Jalen Ramsey received his wish when he was traded from Jacksonville to Los Angeles last season, and now he's getting paid accordingly.
The Rams have agreed to a five-year extension with Ramsey, the team announced. The deal is worth $105 million, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, including $71.2 million in guarantees at signing.
At $21 million per year, Ramsey's extension shatters the defensive back market, which had previously seen Darius Slay top it at an average of $16.68 million a season, per Over The Cap. Ramsey jumps from 31st to first in highest annual salary, landing a massive first contract following his rookie deal, which is set to pay him $13.7 million in its final year of 2020.
It will be interesting to see how Los Angeles structured this deal, considering the Rams were over the cap by a little over $600,000 at the time the deal was announced, per Over The Cap. With $36 million in dead money still hanging from their necks due in most part to the departures of Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks and Clay Matthews, Los Angeles is attempting to execute a financial transformation and wasn't seemingly poised to hand out a massive contract.
Even so, it's money well spent on a player who just two seasons ago posted a coverage grade above 91, per Pro Football Focus, and was named an All-Pro in the same campaign. Ramsey's 10 interceptions and 49 passes defended in his career have helped him reach the Pro bowl in each of the last three seasons, and after becoming somewhat of a malcontent in his final days in Jacksonville, the 25-year-old has taken to his new home and teammates.
This was on full display during a Hard Knocks clip circulated by HBO Sports and NFL Films this week in which Ramsey went out of his way to give individual instruction and tips to rookie receiver Van Jefferson:
The former first-round pick out of Florida State has had the spotlight trained on him for years. After requiring two first-round picks for the Rams to acquire him in 2019 and now agreeing to this new deal, we can guarantee the spotlight won't be pointing anywhere else for quite some time.
