Peter King Says Chiefs ‘Could Be Interested’ in Trading for Jalen Ramsey
The NFL's offseason trade market has yet to establish itself but in a matter of just a couple of weeks, numerous players around the league could be finding themselves on new teams ahead of the 2023 season. March is one of the most action-packed months of the year, and the Kansas City Chiefs have several important decisions ahead of them as they look to best position themselves to defend their Super Bowl title.
General manager Brett Veach has been known to utilize offseason trades to help improve the team, with Frank Clark and Orlando Brown Jr. being the two most notable swaps of his tenure in Kansas City. High-profile adds are never completely out of the question for him, regardless of the team's standing. With a bit of cap flexibility and a decent amount of draft capital at the Chiefs' disposal, they can acquire a star-level player in the coming weeks or months if they so choose.
Recently, it was reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network that the Los Angeles Rams have had trade talks centered around cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey, who will turn 29 in October, is a three-time All-Pro and made his sixth straight Pro Bowl team this past season. The veteran could attract multiple suitors, and Peter King wrote in his famous weekly "Football Morning in America" column that the Chiefs could be one of them:
My projection is the Rams could get something between a low first-round pick this year (Dallas, Buffalo and Kansas City could be interested, and pick between 26 and 31 overall) and a package of picks—perhaps a low two this year, and a fourth-rounder this year or next, that could rise depending on performance or play-time markers Ramsey could meet.
Due to the Miami Dolphins not having their own first-round pick in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, the Chiefs hold the final selection of the opening round at No. 31 overall. They also own a pick in each of the second and third rounds, a pair of fourth-rounders and a surplus of late Day 3 picks that could be used as filler in a potential trade. If the Rams' goal is to obtain draft picks — albeit less-than-stellar ones due to the success of the Chiefs — they could do so by engaging in a swap with Kansas City.
From a financial standpoint, things get more complicated. Ramsey still has three seasons left on his current deal that sees him average $18.33 million annually over the next three campaigns, but recent reports indicate that he's already thinking about getting a new contract. If that's the case, the team that acquires him could be on the hook for even more than a salary that already ranks third in average annual value among all cornerbacks in the NFL for the entire deal. That factors into the equation, too.
Ramsey isn't quite the all-world dominant force he once was with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he's still in or near the top tier of defensive backs in the entire league. He's coming off a season that saw him match his career-high in interceptions with four, and he also set new personal bests in passes broken up (18), tackles (88) and sacks (2) while playing 99% of Los Angeles' available defensive snaps. He projects to be quite the valuable player for the next couple of seasons at a minimum.
With all of that said, age and money are certain elements that must be taken into account in the event of a potential trade. On top of that, the odds of the Chiefs actually pursuing Ramsey via trade seem rather low due to the current state of their cornerback room. L'Jarius Sneed is in line for a new deal and has ascended to the top of the group, and the 2022 selections of Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams in the draft don't exactly leave much room for the addition of someone like Ramsey. King's inclusion of the Chiefs in his list is something worth keeping in mind at the very least, though.
