The Miami Dolphins won't publicly admit it, and they don't have to meet with the media anytime soon to answer questions, but they made a big mistake with Jalen Ramsey.
Miami hopes to get a trade worked out that will eliminate some of the salary cap problems. It's been recently reported that while several teams have interest in the corner, the Dolphins are reluctant to give him up and eat most of his contract.
That's the Dolphins' problem. If you owned an NFL franchise and wanted to make this trade, would you take on that contract and give up a mid-round draft pick? In some cases, that is an easy decision, but the Dolphins have made it pretty clear that Ramsey coming back isn't likely to happen.
The Dolphins may not have many choices to solve the Jalen Ramsey situation
There are three outcomes to this problem:
- The Dolphins find a trade partner, and Ramsey is moved.
- They fail to find a trade partner and somehow keep him on the roster.
- The final option isn't one fans want to hear: Ramsey could be released.
Releasing Ramsey would prove that the front office completely messed this up. Whatever internal issues the team and Ramsey were having have been made worse by comments from Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier to the media. Did they back themselves into a corner, or can they find a way out?
The problem seems to lie with the cap situation. Trading him before June 1 would result in a $25 million dead cap hit for the Dolphins, and they would lose $8.6 million in cap space.
That number flips if the trade happens after June 1. Miami would eat $6.7 million while saving $9.9 million. So, where is the rest of that money? It's being paid by the team that trades for him, and they don't want to pay it.
Releasing Ramsey makes no sense, before or after June 1. What Miami and Ramsey need to figure out is if they can mend the fences long enough to get through this season. It might cost more money for the Dolphins if they have to pay him to make him happy. It would be a horrible look for Grier and the Dolphins.
If the Dolphins do have to release him, it won't be until after June 1, when the dead money hit drops from $49 million to $30 million.
If the Dolphins had just kept their mouths shut, they might have been able to set themselves up for better negotiations. Still, other teams are realizing that if a trade doesn't get done, there may be a possibility of getting him for free at a fraction of the cost.