Ravens Have Made “Serious Inquiries” to Acquire Jalen Ramsey

Jacksonville Jaguars All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey requested a trade from the Jaguars following a heated exchange between Ramsey and head coach Doug Marrone.

The team allowed Ramsey to address the rumors at a press conference, which was essentially announcing that the Jaguars are ready to part ways with the young star:

Today, rumors have surfaced regarding the Ravens involvement in trade talks to acquire Ramsey:

There have also been reports that Earl Thomas was heard in the Ravens locker room lobbying to his agent (who is also Ramsey’s agent) for the Ravens cause:

Some members of ‘The Council’ have also blown their troll smoke on the fire:

The ‘Broward County Bombers’ have also gotten in on the fun. . .

While the players probably don’t have any clue what Eric DeCosta has been doing upstairs, they’re certainly privy to the idea of Ramsey joining the likes of Earl Thomas, Marlon Humphrey, Brandon Carr and Tony Jefferson in the secondary. The losses of Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young have turned the best paper secondary into a little bit more of a concern as of late. Ramsey would almost certainly turn the Ravens secondary into an all-time unit.

The Jaguars asking price is reportedly a 2020 and 2021 first round pick. Much debate has occurred in the annals of twitter regarding whether or not Ramsey is worth that much draft capital. My two cents— absolutely. Considering the Ravens past decade of first round picks, several - Hayden Hurst, Matt Elam, Breshad Perriman and Michael Oher - have never touched the same ballpark of worth as Ramsey. While C.J. Mosley is a great player, an All-Pro corner is endlessly more valuable in today’s NFL than a run defending ILB.

However, the Ravens are on the brink of having the eighth most cap space in the NFL next offseason. They have upcoming free agents in Matt Judon, Michael Pierce, Patrick Onwuasor and Willie Snead. Not to mention, Ronnie Stanley is entering his last year of team control in 2020 and Marlon Humphrey also needs to be extended eventually.

Baltimore Beatdown writer and editor Vasilis Lericos did some rough estimations last evening. He believes that the Ravens can afford to keep Judon, Stanley, Pierce, Humphrey, Andrews and Lamar Jackson long term, even without the massive raise in cap ceiling that is expected in the 2021 CBA agreement. Factoring in retaining most restricted free agents and signing rookie classes, Vasilis believes the Ravens will have around a $25M surplus remaining annually, which could afford Ramsey. If that is the case, the Ravens might be foolish not to take the Jaguars up on their offer.

Various trade scenarious have been floated around. One that I find particularly enticing is embedded below:

The Ravens would be able to survive the loss of Hurst, who would be a No. 1 tight end on most teams. The first round pick this year would essentially be Jalen Ramsey and the Ravens will likely possess two third rounders as a result of the compensatory formula. If they can throw in a 2021 third rounder, I would fully support that trade, as long as the Ravens can afford to extend Stanley, Judon, Humphrey and Ramsey.