Panthers among 4 NFL teams linked to expected trade for Dolphins superstar Jalen Ramsey

It came as a surprise when Adam Schefter at ESPN reported that the Carolina Panthers were one of the teams in hot pursuit of signing Jaire Alexander after his release from the Green Bay Packers. However, about an hour later Alexander wound up signing with the Baltimore Ravens, who landed him for a paltry $6 million max one-year deal.

Great teams signing star players for less than they were offered by their inferior competitors is the way the NFL works, so the Panthers will have to keep trying if they're really serous about landing a cornerback upgrade before the season starts.

On that score, the top potential upgrade who might be on the market is Jalen Ramsey of the Miami Dolphins, who have apparently had enough of him. According to Albert Breer at Sports Illustarted, they're officially past the point of no return and he expects a deal to go down before training camp.

The Panthers should be in the mix to trade for Ramsey, according to David Latham at Last Word on Sports.

"After successfully building an offense that can support quarterback Bryce Young in 2024, the Carolina Panthers spent 2025 building a defense. While they’ve added several key players in the front seven, they could still use another cornerback to pair with Pro Bowler Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson. A Jalen Ramsey trade would give this team all the defensive firepower it needs to support Young following his late 2024 breakout."

Latham also listed the Rams, Falcons and Chargers as potential suitors.

Ramsey has been around for a while now but he's still a great cover cornerback. Last season in Miami he posted two interceptions and 11 pass breakups to go wth a 62% completion rate and an 83.2 passer rating allowed. Pro Football Focus gave Ramsey strong grades all around for 2024, including a 76.5 in pass rushing, 85.7 in run defense and 71.9 in coverage.

Carolina's need for another blue chip defensive piece to pair with Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn and his previous experience working with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero make Ramsey an obvious fit.

However, the big obstacle here is the size of Ramsey's contract. Unlike Alexander the Dolphins are not going to release Ramsey, so whichever team wants to trade for him will have to take on a deal with a dead money hit just under $50 million for 2025. The Dolphins will likely have to eat a portion of Ramsey's contract no matter where he goes.

While there's always a case to add a talent like Ramsey to a team that hasn't won anything in seven years, there are reasons to think twice about this trade proposal. For one thing, Ramsey is now 30 years old and it's not difficult to imagine him clashing with the Panthers front office at some point in the future - especially if Evero winds up leaving.

Then again, the Panthers need a corner who can trail the opponent's best receiver, and at least so far Evero has been reluctant to allow Horn to take on that role. With Ramsey there would be no cause for reservation, and it would allow Evero to do a whole lot more schematically on the back end of his defense. If there's even a slim chance at a deal the Panthers should push hard.

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