Jalen Ramsey ‘begged’ to be traded to Raiders in 2019
The Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock ghosts continue to haunt the Raiders. All-pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey was ready to be a Raider in 2019, and the team was a lot closer than many think.
During that 2019 season, there were rumors that Ramsey and the Raiders shared a mutual interest in one another. Still a member of the Jaguars, Ramsey drew interest from teams across the league. However, the Rams acquired him, shutting down any Raider talk that had come up.
Just how close was Ramsey to being traded to Oakland (Vegas now) at the time? In a recent podcast appearance on ‘Behind the Cut,” the cornerback mentioned how he was begging to go to the Raiders.
“The team I pushed for the most, I was like please get me here, please get me here was at the time, the Oakland Raiders, now the Las Vegas Raiders. I begged to go to the Raiders.”
Imagine the Raider’s defense with Jalen Ramsey. *sigh* one could imagine. Mayock just loved his picks too much.
While he was begging, Gruden and Mayock were listening. Ramsey mentions that the Raiders did in fact send an offer to acquire him. While we don’t know what that offer was, it wasn’t what the Jaguars were looking for.
The Rams then came into the picture and gave the Jaguars exactly what they were looking for. Two first-round picks (2020 and 2021) and a fourth-round pick (2021.) The Rams then gave the cornerback a five-year extension worth $105 million.
For a high-caliber player like Ramsey, how could you NOT be willing to give up your top picks. First team All-Pro in his first two seasons with the Rams. Just last season, Ramsey had a career-high 77 tackles and 9 tackles for loss. These kinds of stats you don’t see from cornerbacks very often.
Yes, Ramsey did look like burnt toast in the 2022 home opener against the Bills. Allowing a perfect passing rating (158.3) is never going to make you look good. Nevertheless, not pushing harder to acquire Ramsey will sting Raider Nation.
The Rams traded two first-rounders for Ramsey. The Raiders really weren’t willing to give that up? Especially when their past three first-round picks were Henry Ruggs, Damon Arnette, and Alex Leatherwood.
Hey, at least the Gruden/Mayock era is over, right Raider fans? Ramsey isn’t a Raider, but at least we have Davante Adams.
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