Why the Kansas City Chiefs should trade for Jalen Ramsey

Ramsey’s contract

If the Chiefs were to make a trade for Jalen Ramsey, they would have to put down some money. Next season, the Chiefs will have only about $25 million in cap space. In addition, the Chiefs have plenty of cap flexibility in players who could be on the move and/or cap room to roll over from the current year.

The Chiefs could move on from safety Daniel Sorensen, linebacker Anthony Hitchens, and/or wide receiver Sammy Watkins and save money to add more talent or sign long-term deals next season. Ramsey would likely get signed to a four or five-year deal. When looking at the way that Ramsey will be compensated in the case that he is signed to a long-term deal, we must look at the league’s highest-paid cornerbacks and expect Ramsey to re-set the market.

Today, the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback is the Dolphin’s Xavien Howard. Howard was signed to a whopping $75,250,000 deal. The deal is structured as a $15.05 million per year base with a little over $27 million guaranteed. I would expect Ramsey’s contract number to be even higher, but for fewer years. Ramsey would command about $16.5 million per year with a bonus of $27 million or higher. I would expect a four-year deal to keep Ramsey in Kansas City until he is 28. This would put him in line for another huge contract by that time.

Trade compensation

It is hard to imagine a scenario in which Ramsey stays much longer with the Jaguars after a shouting match with head coach Doug Marrone. It is also hard to imagine that there won’t be quite a market for Ramsey in the coming week.

It seems likely that whoever will acquire Ramsey will need to surrender at least a first-round pick. In fact, I would venture that a team may need to give up a first and a third or fourth. Kansas City would likely need to out-duel several suitors in the NFL.

Interested teams?

The teams most likely to come calling include the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Buffalo Bills.

I know that this list looks like a ton of teams, but many of these teams will not be willing to give away such assets in a transition year. I would expect teams that are contenders to be the most active on the phones. Watch out for a bidding war between Kansas City, New England, and Tampa Bay. The Bucs are not necessarily a contender but could be considered one if the team were to acquire Ramsey.