Draft ends without a Jalen Ramsey trade

The draft has come and gone, and cornerback Jalen Ramsey remains on the Miami roster.

Earlier this month, the Dolphins confirmed that they're trying to trade Ramsey. They surely would have preferred to get 2025 draft picks. Now, they'll either get one or more players or one or more 2026 draft picks.

Given the calendar — and in light of the fact that a pre-June 1 trade would spark a $25.213 million cap charge — it makes sense for the Dolphins to wait to trade Ramsey until June 2. G.M. Chris Grier was asked on Saturday whether at this point it makes sense to delay a trade by a few weeks, in order to reduce the 2025 salary cap consequences by $18.468 million.

"No, I think whenever those opportunities arise," Grier said. "We’ve had conversations through the weekend with some teams about it as well, so depending on what happens and if and when it’ll happen. Whatever it is, we’ll make the deal at the appropriate time.”

With the draft over, however, it seems more than appropriate to wait for a much lower cap charge.

Meanwhile, coach Mike McDaniel did not deem Saturday as an appropriate occasion to discuss his current relationship with Ramsey.

"I think speaking on the relationship with Jalen on this forum kind of undercuts what I think is important today which is we’ve added a class and are continuing to add new players to the 2025 Dolphins, and I think beyond that it wouldn’t do justice to these draft picks and what we’re trying to do today," McDaniel told reporters.

Some would say that, if the relationship were good, there would be no reason to not say so. The mere fact that the Dolphins are trying to trade Ramsey less than eight months after making him the highest-paid player at his position strongly suggests that something went sideways between player and team.

A trade will not be easy. The Dolphins will have to cough up plenty of the cash that's owed to Ramsey this year. Even then, they might not get much for him in return.

Complicating matters is the fact that Ramsey can put pressure on the situation by fully participating in the offseason program. If he suffers a season-ending injury during any phase of the program, the Dolphins won't be trading him — and they'll be paying him every penny of the $20.153 million he's still owed in 2026.