Jalen Ramsey trade unlikely to materialize anytime soon

After a whirlwind of what seemed like hourly updates on the Jalen Ramsey trade front, it’s been all quiet since the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football, a game in which Ramsey played. Last week I tried to explain on Twitter that I didn’t believe a deal to trade Ramsey was imminent, especially when head coach Doug Marrone stated Ramsey was slated to play on Thursday and start.

He played. He started and now it’s Monday and Ramsey is still on the roster, despite the flurry of reports that he could be gone as soon as the Friday following the game.

The reality is, it should not be a surprise.

I’ve mentioned numerous times that while Ramsey may want to be traded, the Jaguars are under no obligation to do so. They’re also under no pressure to quickly whisk Ramsey away for a cheap return. They have all the leverage here and Ramsey isn’t made up like the kind of player who is going to dog it on the field, because he’s still angling to get a new big contract, likely the highest paid defensive back in NFL history.

While Ramsey got beat on a long pass Thursday (still amazingly getting a hand on the ball), he was doing a lot of the dirty work that someone who is desperate to get out at all costs is going to do. He was fighting through blocks, getting in the pile on run games and flying all over the field. Ramsey is just a flat out competitor and I don’t think it’s in his makeup to dog it on the field.

By all accounts he still wants to be traded and a lot of teams are interested, but thankfully it sounds like the majority of teams are put off by the Jaguars asking price. It was recently reported the Jaguars turned down the Baltimore Ravens offer of tight end Hayden Hurst, a first round pick and second round pick. That offer is similar to what I heard was being offered on Thursday and was terrified the Jaguars would accept. Hurst is who the Jaguars had their eye on for the 2018 NFL Draft and very likely who they were going to pick before Baltimore took him a few picks earlier. Thankfully the Jaguars played hard ball and it sounds as if Jaguars owner Shad Khan stepped into the process.

The Jaguars, thankfully, are sticking to their guns on their valuation of Ramsey and they have no reason to back off that because they’re not under any pressure to deal Ramsey. Based on how things have played out, I think the Jaguars are going to end up doing the right thing and telling Ramsey he’s not getting traded in-season, unless someone gets desperate at the trade deadline.

You sit him down and have that talk and, as reported, try to repair the relationship with your best player and superstar. At the end of the season, maybe Tom Coughlin retires. Maybe they’re able to work something out where they can co-exist, but if that can’t happen, then you make the move to trade Ramsey. You don’t do it in the first quarter of the season.

The saga is going to linger, because every little thing is going to be blown out of proportion until either Ramsey is paid by the Jaguars or traded by the Jaguars, but it’s still at a complete stall right now and will likely remain that way for a while.