Jalen Ramsey Again Details Jaguars Divorce: ‘That Was One of the First Places That I’ve Ever Been in That I Didn’t Feel Valued’

During an appearance on 'The Pivot' podcast, Jalen Ramsey once again went through why his tenure in Jacksonville ended when it did.

Over two years after a franchise-changing trade, the dust still hasn't completely settled between the Jacksonville Jaguars and former cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

Ramsey is a Super Bowl champion and one of the league's highest-paid defensive backs with the Los Angeles Rams. The Jaguars, meanwhile, have now had two head coaches since Ramsey's last down in Jacksonville and the former Tom Coughlin and Dave Caldwell-led front office has been replaced by new general manager Trent Baalke.

But for as much changes for the two sides since the days of Ramsey's public divorce from the Jaguars, the wonder of what could have been never has never truly gone away. As a result, it makes it worthwhile to hear Ramsey tell his side of the biggest trade in franchise history.

Ramsey did just that this week, appearing on 'The Pivot Podcast' with former Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, ESPN's Ryan Clark and former NFL linebacker Channing Crowder and once again detailing his exit from Jacksonville.

On Oct. 15, 2019, the Jaguars put an end to the weeks-long saga with Ramsey by dealing him in what is still one of the biggest blockbusters in recent NFL memory. The compensation alone -- a 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2021 fourth-round pick -- reflected the major move the Jaguars would be making.

But why did Ramsey demand a trade after already three terrific seasons, an All-Pro appearance and back-to-back pro Bowls? 

"That was one of the first places that I've ever been in that I don't feel valued, for real. It was weird, and it was frustrating, and it got to a point where, like, it just started piling up, piling up, piling up," Ramsey told the podcast. 

"And we weren't winning. And they didn't want to pay me early. So all of that put together was like, man, so what I'm what am I here for? Like, what am I here wasting my time for?"

The lead-up to Ramsey's divorce from the Jaguars was sped up by what Ramsey perceived as slights by key members of the franchise -- namely former executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin.

Ramsey already had a rocky relationship with the Jaguars entering 2019, but things reached a boiling point in a Week 2 game against the Houston Texans. During a Texans possession in the first quarter, DeAndre Hopkins caught a third-down pass against Ramsey that looked close to an incompletion. Ramsey had a noticeable desire for head coach Doug Marrone to throw the challenge flag, but no red flag came from Marrone. 

Ramsey would then have a meltdown on the Jaguars' sideline, the likes of which you rarely see at the NFL level. The meltdown led to Marrone stepping in which led to words being exchanged between the head coach and his best player.

Jalen Ramsey is not happy. pic.twitter.com/n58TyH6BKe

— Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) September 15, 2019

But as Ramsey described it again to Taylor, Clark and Crowder, the blow-up with Marrone on the sidelines is not why Ramsey requested a trade following the Texans game. 

"To grow, you need confrontation sometimes. I value relationships. I really do value relationships. So I think to grow relationships, sometimes you got to have them type of conversations and you got to go through some with people," Ramsey said. That's what happened. Really, the one person I never really got to have a relationship with at all was Tom Coughlin. And in at the time, he ran all that in Jacksonville. He ran all that. I'm talking about everything every part of everything, he ran all that. 

"Other than that I had good relationships with my coaches. Like even Doug, like people saw the scuffle me and Doug had the Houston game before I requested the trade but, me and Doug cool. Doug and my oldest daughter got the same birthday. I promise you every year Doug texts me on her birthday. He will be like 'tell your daughter I said happy birthday.' And I'd be like man appreciate it, the same to you, whatever, whatever. Like my DB coaches, I talk to all them. Every DB coach I have ever had in the league, I've ever in Jacksonville, I talk to all of them. The last one Coach [Tim] Walton, he is at Ohio State now, he just called me two days ago. Like I talked to all of them. Defensive coaches like, I got love with all the coaches and everybody. It was really just Tom Coughlin."

Ramsey has made it clear in the past that it was Coughlin who became the major divider in the Jaguars' front office. Ramsey was far from alone in terms of Jaguars players who had bad relationships -- or no relationships at all -- with the former Jaguars and Giants head coach. 

And while Ramsey was the team's most important building block during Coughlin's three seasons in the front office, Ramsey told The Pivot Podcast that he never felt the respect or value from the Jaguars top-decision maker. 

"He didn't care to try to have any relationship. It was just, it was my way or the highway," Ramsey said.

"Relationships matter and the players matter. The people matter. So if you make a player, especially your top players feel like they ain't nothing, like that's not gonna go well for you at all. And that's how that's how the vibe was around there. They're just like, we can get another Jalen. So it got to a point where I was like prove it then. If that is how y'all feel about me if y'all don't value me like that, if that's how y'all feel about me, it's coming from the top so then it's starting to trickle down."

As Ramsey has previously stated, the perceived disrespect and slights didn't just come from Coughlin. Ramsey has since stated he has no ill-will toward the coaching staff, owner Shad Khan or Tony Khan, but the same can not be said for Caldwell, the general manager who drafted Ramsey and then drafted his replacement in CJ Henderson in 2020.

"ow me and the GM got beef because now the GM don't want to have conversations. Me and him had always talked, been able to have conversations or whatever, and then you know all of a sudden, now we don't even get to have conversations," Ramsey said. "Like he would see me in the hallway and say hi to me and then 30 minutes later he'll call my agent and say something about me and my agent called me and I'd be like 'I just saw him in hallway and he said hey to me.' But now like but now we don't even talk anymore.

"It just kept trickling down like. It got to the point where it just kept getting worse."