JACKSONVILLE, FLA – Like everyone else in the city, the Jaguars are ready to move on from Jalen Ramsey.
The morning after the massive trade of their Pro Bowl cornerback who wanted out of Jacksonville, the team was already focusing on the future, beginning with Sunday’s game in Cincinnati.
“I think in this league nothing ever really surprises me anymore, especially from the business side of things,” coach Doug Marrone said. “I found out like everyone else did, late last night when [general manager] Dave [Caldwell] came in and told me.”
The Jaguars picked up the Rams' first-round picks in 2020 and '21, and a fourth-round pick in 2021 for Ramsey. Marrone said he wasn't the person to say whether the Jaguars were happy with the package and that he was only worried about the players that were there and the Bengals game plan.
Owner Shad Khan, with whom Ramsey had a "heart to heart" with last week, said in a statement that the team was in good shape after dealing the fourth-year player.
"The Jacksonville Jaguars are doing just fine today. I give kudos to our football staff for not only managing this matter extremely well, but giving our team and fans a lot to look forward to in years to come.
"Credit also goes to our players for their professional approach throughout this situation. It did not go unnoticed. Now it’s time to turn the attention again to what’s most important – the Jacksonville Jaguars."
Marrone said that he’d always had a good relationship with Ramsey, the team’s first-round pick in 2016, and that he wished him well in Los Angeles, and he had no problem with how Ramsey handled things these last few weeks.
“I respect everyone that’s in that locker room and the way they handle a lot of things,” Marrone said of Ramsey’s final month with the team. “... I have no issues.”
Marrone said that his focus is always on football and that he has very little to due with the business or analytics side of the game, and that he wished that the Jaguars would have made someone else available — likely Caldwell or executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin — to answer the personnel questions.
Ramsey’s final five weeks of the season were all over the place.
He publicly requested a trade after a 13-12 loss at Houston after perceived disrespect by management. Ramsey played one game since then, a win over Tennessee, and then spent the final three weeks nursing a back injury that happened at a convenient time.
Marrone said that he thought it was unfair for him to say that Ramsey feigned a more severe injury to force a trade, and gave other disgruntled players a “blueprint” for how to get off of a team.
“[I was] busting my butt to get him healthy to get him out there,” Marrone said.
Coughlin said in a statement that the franchise felt the value from the Rams sets the team up well for the future.
"Given the situation with Jalen, we made this decision based on what we thought is in the best interest of the Jacksonville Jaguars, for this season and well into the future. We feel the trade that we struck with the Rams gives us great value for the next two drafts, and we remain very confident that our team today will compete this season for a division title.
“Jalen was a productive player, but the time came to move on and we wish him and his family the best in Los Angeles.”