Jalen Ramsey’s relationship with the Jacksonville Jaguars soured rapidly over the last year, much of it having to do with Tom Coughlin and his criticism of the cornerback skipping voluntary workouts. It culminated in Jacksonville trading Ramsey to the Rams last October, netting two first-round picks in return.
Before that trade went down, the Rams dealt away Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, opening up cap space for Ramsey and a starting role in the secondary. Ramsey was thrilled to land in Los Angeles, but he never thought the Rams would trade for him.
“Yeah, for sure,” Ramsey said of wanting to go to Los Angeles in an interview with Arash Markazi of the L.A. Times. “I had a couple places in mind, but at the time when I requested a trade, I didn’t think L.A. was even a possibility. I even remember talking to my agent and telling him, ‘Man, I would love to go here, here and here’ – just a few places – and I remember specifically telling him, ‘You could reach out to L.A., but I know they’ve got Lib and M.P., so it’s probably not going to happen.’ And the way things turned out, it happened perfect.”
Ramsey played nine games with the Rams, picking off one pass and recording 33 tackles. He also forced a fumble against the Falcons in his Rams debut, often shadowing the opposing team’s No. 1 receiver.
Ramsey said Los Angeles doesn’t “feel like complete home yet” because he hasn’t had much downtime in the new city yet, but he’s getting acclimated. At the moment, he doesn’t have any long-term assurances that he’ll stay in L.A. with his contract expiring after the 2020 season, but the Rams are expected to sign him to an extension at some point.
He said he’s had “slight talks” with Sean McVay and Les Snead about an extension, but he’s letting his agent handle that side of the equation.
“I think my agent’s the best in the game, so I’m gonna let him handle it,” he said. “If it gets done this offseason, perfect. If not, we’ll move forward.”
Ramsey reportedly promised the Rams he wouldn’t hold out this offseason if a deal doesn’t get done, but if he’s tagged before the 2021 season, all bets are off.
