Kansas City Chiefs
Heading into the 2019 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs clearly tried to upgrade their defense. They hired Steve Spagnuolo as their defensive coordinator, traded for Frank Clark and Emmanuel Ogbah, signed Tyrann Mathieu and Alex Okafor, and drafted Juan Thornhill and Khalen Saunders. Despite all the moves, the defense is still struggling and the offense is carrying the team. Adding a blue-chip player like Ramsey to their secondary could push the Chiefs Super Bowl aspirations over the top. With a blatant hole at cornerback, he would address arguably the team’s biggest need right now.
With Ramsey joining the Chiefs secondary, they would have a much stronger group. Kendall Fuller would be able to be the full-time nickel with Bashaud Breeland and Ramsey on the outside and Mathieu and Thornhill at safety. A problem for the Chiefs would be keeping him long-term. They’re projected to have under $25 million in cap space in 2020 and still need to extend Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones. For the Chiefs, this move would more than likely be a two-year rental to take home the Lombardi. GM Brett Veach might not be willing to part with multiple high draft picks to get a deal done.
New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles
Anytime a major player is available, the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles are floated as potential landing spots. Nobody ever counts Bill Belichick or Howie Roseman out when it comes to adding a piece that can help their rosters contend for the Super Bowl. It similar scenarios for both these teams when it comes to Ramsey. Neither is in a dire cap situation going forward, but both are below the league average for cap space. So if either the Patriots or Eagles made a move for Ramsey, it would probably be a two-year rental. This is a move Super Bowl contenders make to win-now and both Belichick and Roseman have a history of making these types of moves.
Schematically the Patriots make perfect sense. They play more man-to-man coverage than anybody in the NFL. The issue is cornerback isn’t a tremendous need for them right now. Stephon Gilmore might be the best in the league and they’re deep with Jason McCourty, JC Jackson, Jonathan Jones, and Joejuan Williams. For the Eagles, they aren’t an ideal schematic fit with Jim Schwartz living by heavy zone and blitzes. On the other hand, they do need a true top cornerback. Ronald Darby has struggled, they’ve gotten a lot of up-and-down play from Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas, and Jalen Mills and Cre’Von LeBlanc are on the IR.
For either the Patriots or the Eagles to pull the trigger on the move for Ramsey, it would be all about buying him at a discount. Both teams would more likely than not let him walk after the 2020 season for the compensatory pick. Neither would want to pay an excessive amount for a rental player, especially when both are contenders with or without Ramsey. Never count the smartest GMs out when a top player is available.
Rob Paul is an AFC South writer for Pro Football Network. You can follow his work on Twitter @RobPaulNFL.
