Could Jalen Ramsey Actually Ever Return to the Jaguars?
It has been over three years since the last time Jalen Ramsey donned a Jacksonville Jaguars uniform. For most, the Ramsey era is long gone, put behind and stuck in the past in a vault.
But for others, the question will always remain: Would Ramsey ever return to the team that drafted him?
From the jump when he was drafted, Ramsey was seen as a star who may grow restless in Jacksonville. Winning in 2017 disguised his disgruntlement, but by the time 2019 came around, Ramsey was ready to leave Jacksonville for greener pastures.
Ramsey found those pastures in Los Angeles in the form of a record-breaking contract and a Super Bowl win with the Rams. But entering the 2023 offseason, the speculation continues to swirl that Ramsey could potentially be on the trading block as the Rams enter a potential rebuild.
This includes from Pro Football Focus' Marcus Mosher, who recently listed Ramsey returning to Jacksonville as a potential offseason trade that could jolt the NFL's senses.
"Ramsey has been known to send out a cryptic tweet here or there, but his tweet at the end of the season raised some eyebrows because it appeared to signal the end of his time with the Rams. With the Rams short of draft picks (due to the Stafford trade) and cap space ($14 million over the cap), could the Rams trade Ramsey this offseason?" Mosher said.
"It’s certainly possible, as Ramsey has just $5 million in guaranteed money left on his deal. And wouldn’t a return to Jacksonville just be perfect now that the Jaguars are contenders in the AFC once again? Ramsey would join a defense with one elite cornerback in Tyson Campbell (80.8 grade in 2022) and a young pass-rush unit. Ramsey is still a fantastic player, as he had the second-best grade of his career (86.4) during the 2022 season. If he were to join this defense, Jacksonville would have one of the most talented rosters in the league going into the 2023 season."
But would Ramsey ever actually return to Jacksonville, just three years after one of the most public divorces in recent sports history?
On Oct. 15, 2019, the Jaguars put an end to the weeks-long saga with Ramsey by dealing him in what is still one of the biggest blockbusters in NFL memory. The compensation alone -- a 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2021 fourth-round pick -- reflected the major move the Jaguars would be making.
But before then, everything that could happen between Ramsey and the Jaguars did happen.
Ramsey and the Jaguars had more than their fair share of negative interactions before 2019, but those fateful last few months were the star that broke the camel's back.
After former Vice President of Football Operations and franchise czar Tom Coughlin criticized Ramsey openly for not attending voluntary minicamp, Ramsey showed up in Jacksonville in a Brinks truck -- an open invitation to the Jaguars to pay him, or else.
Ramsey's frustrations with the Jaguars spilled over in Week 2, with Ramsey confronting former head coach Doug Marrone on the sidelines.
Days later, his trade request was made public; a trade that was requested after Coughlin, former general manager Dave Caldwell, and Jaguars owners Shad and Tony Khan met with Ramsey in the visitor's locker room after the game.
Ramsey has since said the meeting eroded after emotions spilled between him and Caldwell, something one former Jaguars player confirmed weeks after the event.
Things didn't get better after that. Ramsey held a very public and negative press conference inside the team's own broadcast studio that week before suiting up for one final Jaguars game.
After that, Ramsey was gone. He wouldn't step foot onto the field for the Jaguars again, faking a back injury until the Jaguars pulled the trigger on his trade to the rams.
As one member of the 2019 Jaguars roster once told Jaguar Report: "Jalen was the elephant in the room every week until he was traded. But the elephant was the best player on the team."
This leads us back to the original question ... after all of this drama, could Ramsey ever actually return to the Jaguars?
There are a few things to consider from a football and business perspective, obviously. Ramsey's contract has been nearly paid out in terms of guaranteed money, but he is still set to have a cap hit of close to $17 million next year.
To lower the hit, the Jaguars would need to restructure Ramsey's deal -- something they already have to do with a number of players on the current roster.
The Jaguars are not a team that is just an outside cornerback away from a Super Bowl, but Ramsey would be the first bonafide elite player on the Jaguars' defense since, well, Ramsey. The best player on the defense today is cornerback Tyson Campbell, and he and Ramsey would be a deadly duo for offenses to attack.
Are the Jaguars a team that is set to make all-in, blockbuster moves moving forward? They have openly said they are pivoting to a new mindset this offseason: one of retaining and developing players instead of trying to find expensive stop-gaps. Dealing for Ramsey would likely be the opposite of doing that, but the Jaguars and general manager Trent Baalke have taken risks before.
This leads to the final question: would Jacksonville take Ramsey back with open arms? Would Ramsey take Jacksonville back?
Ramsey's tweets just a few weeks ago, when he expressed his love for Jacksonville as a city and franchise despite their divorce, would indicate he would.
The Jaguars are run by different people from the top to bottom than they were in 2019. The Khans remain, but they never were the reason Ramsey left. And Baalke and head coach Doug Pederson seem much more prepared to handle a player of Ramsey's attitude and personality than Marrone, Coughlin and Caldwell were.
So, could a reunion ever happen? There are enough financial reasons to believe the answer is no, but time has healed enough wounds to at least make it a question.
