Jaguars won’t re-sign Jalen Ramsey, this offseason

The Jacksonville Jaguars began mandatory mini-camp this week, with just on player choosing not to show up due to a contract dispute in defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. The other player who is looking for a new deal, All Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, was told he’s not getting a new deal this offseason but is here for the mini-camp.

I’m sure this news is going to send some people into a panic and add more fuel to the terrible Jalen Ramsey trade rumors/awful scenarios that fans of other teams will produce, but the reality of the situation is that this isn’t really surprising news.

It was never expected the Jaguars would lock up Ramsey this offseason because there’s no reason to and I’m sure Ramsey and his camp knew that, but still tried to get it done. The truth is the Jaguars control Ramsey’s contract situation through the next three seasons with the final year of his rookie deal coming in 2019, his fifth-year option which the team picked up through 2020 and then the possibility of the franchise tag in 2021, depending on the state of the new CBA.

From the team perspective it’s also smart to wait this one out because there could be a new CBA by the time they actually approach Ramsey with a new deal, which could have changes to how contracts can be structure, new tags, etc. Perhaps there’s something like a max guaranteed deal introduced like in the NBA, or the NFL gets fully guaranteed contracts.

The overall reason however, is Ramsey won’t get a deal done this year because there’s no urgency to get one done. He doesn’t gain much by holding out with two years remaining and the Jaguars aren’t really going to save much locking up a young corner prior to a new CBA or when they have to, because there’s a good chance Ramsey will play for a third NFL contract.