The Raheem Morris connection makes it natural to wonder, but there are real hurdles to a deal.
The Miami Dolphins are looking to move Jalen Ramsey, one of the great cornerbacks of his era. Every NFL team will have some degree of interest in Ramsey, even if it’s just a “hey, he’d be a nice addition to the roster” before moving on, and the Atlanta Falcons are no exception.
In fact, the Falcons are in need of secondary upgrades and have a strong connection to Ramsey through Raheem Morris, who was Ramsey’s defensive coordinator for years when the duo was with the Los Angeles Rams.
NFL Network’s Steve Wyche brought up both the obvious mutual appreciation between Morris and Ramsey—the defensive back lit up Morris critics with a fiery, swear-heavy five minute speech back in 2022, for example—and the fact that both coach and player have talked about moving Ramsey to safety in the twilight years of his career. The Falcons notably have some serious question marks at the position, with former Ram Jordan Fuller and recovering-from-major-injury DeMarcco Hellams as their only real options next to the great Jessie Bates, so Wyche’s thoughts here hold some weight even if a positional shift for Ramsey would be no small undertaking.
Of course, it’s not like they’re loaded at corner, where Ramsey was still excellent in 2024 and has spent his career dominating, so a trade with an eye on having Ramsey as a clear upgrade at either spot makes plenty of sense from a pure talent and fit perspective. Acquiring Ramsey to start opposite AJ Terrell while kicking Mike Hughes inside and relegating Clark Phillips, Dee Alford, and Natrone Brooks to depth role would give the Falcons a very good group.
Can’t stop thinking about how much Falcons HC (then Rams DC) Raheem Morris and Jalen Ramsey told me of their admiration for one another – and about a potential move to Safety for Ramsey as his career went on. Ramsey has told me how much he respects Hall of Fame CB/S Charles… https://t.co/Uvmh2I5tUN
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) April 15, 2025
So that raises an obvious question: Would the Falcons consider a trade for Ramsey? The short answer is yes, but the obstacles to getting that kind of deal done are legion.
The Dolphins will likely want draft capital, and the Falcons are quite limited in that regard for 2025. Perhaps they can swing a deal for 2026 picks, but they’d still have to absorb nearly $16.7 in a 2025 cap hit, with a $25 million hit for 2026 on the way and no good way to escape the deal until 2027. The team also would need to make a determination on whether they’d prefer to keep him at corner, where his cap hit is high but not outlandish, or explore that shift to safety, where it would be less palatable. For a team that’s been fighting through a cap-strapped moment, adding Ramsey might be prohibitively costly from a contract and compensation standpoint.
All that may well keep the Falcons from seriously exploring a trade, but I’m not going to entirely rule it out. Morris loves Ramsey, Ramsey loves playing for Morris, and this team both needs major upgrades on defense and wants to win right now. If they can spin a 2026 day two pick for an excellent, fairly durable defensive back who would give them the makings of a dominant secondary, the temptation will likely be there for this team. They don’t have an easy path to acquiring a talent of that caliber up front, after all.
It’s worth keeping an eye on these rumors as we approach the draft. Ultimately, I imagine the Falcons will hold on to their draft capital and shy away from a trade for Ramsey, but the pressure to win right now, Morris’ esteem for Ramsey, and Ramsey’s obvious appreciation for Morris means we can’t rule out the possibility entirely.