The Jalen Ramsey trade saga is coming to an end. The All-Pro corner is on the move, but not out west as many predicted. 
The Dolphins have reached agreement with the Steelers on a Ramsey swap, Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network report. Pittsburgh recently emerged as the most recent team likely to be eliminated from the list of landing spots in this case, but a trade has nevertheless been worked out and is now official. Ramsey will receive a $3MM bump in pay as part of this deal.
With the Dolphins paying $7MM of the $26.6MM Ramsey was owed this season, Rapoport reports the Steelers will be responsible for the remainder of that total. Pittsburgh will thus pay him $19.6MM in 2025.
Adding an unexpected layer to this blockbuster deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is headed the other way in the swap. Fitzpatrick began his career in Miami, and the former first-rounder was dealt to the Steelers in 2019. He will now return to his original team for 2025. This represents the first time since 2002 there have been players with five or more Pro Bowl nods traded for one another (h/t Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports).
[RELATED: Steelers To Acquire, Extend TE Jonnu Smith]
Rapoport notes the Rams and Steelers were the two main Ramsey suitors, with Los Angeles long representing the expected destination in this situation. He adds Pittsburgh was out of the running until very recently, but that has obviously changed rather quickly. Ramsey himself has confirmed that he is headed to the Steelers, which will be his fourth career team.
The three-time All-Pro spent the past two seasons in Miami, rebounding from his injury-shortened 2023 campaign to play a full slate last year. Ramsey appeared set to remain in South Beach for the foreseeable future when he agreed to a lucrative extension last offseason, but a falling out with head coach Mike McDaniel led to the mutual decision a parting of ways would be best. Ramsey was on the trade block through the spring, but the list of suitors publicly expressing interest proved to be rather short.
Rams head coach Sean McVay made it clear the team was open to a Ramsey reunion (after he helped the team win the Super Bowl in 2021). Finances were a sticking point in this case, however. The seven-time Pro Bowler has already received a $4MM roster bonus from Miami, but his outstanding $21MM-plus in compensation for the year is guaranteed. Ramsey is on the books for another three yeas after the coming campaign, but an adjustment to his pact has been expected upon arrival with an acquiring team.
Despite a limited market emerging, the Dolphins remained steadfast in their desire to move on from Ramsey. The 30-year-old has proven to be one of the league’s top corners over the course of his career, although age will become a concern during his Steelers tenure. Nonetheless, Pittsburgh’s CB depth chart now includes another standout veteran after the team added Darius Slay in free agency. Those two will join returnee Joey Porter Jr. in a secondary which will look much different in 2025.
Fitzpatrick only played 18 games during his first Dolphins tenure. Expectations were high for the former No. 11 pick, but his departure came about as part of the team’s maneuvering in advance of the 2020 draft (which brought about the selection of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa). Upon arrival in Pittsburgh, Fitzpatrick shone and earned first-team All-Pro honors. He remained productive through the following years.
However, things took an unwanted turn following the 2022 campaign (one in which Fitzpatrick recorded a league-leading six interceptions). Over the past two seasons, the Alabama product has been limited to just one pick and seven pass deflections while operating in different areas on the field. A five-time Pro Bowler, Fitzpatrick will aim to return to his previous form during his second Dolphins stint. His original team has a notable vacancy at the cornerback spot, but he will provide starting play at the safety position.
Two years remain on Fitzpatrick’s contract, and he is set to carry cap charges of $22.36MM and $24.46MM as things stand. With none of his remaining base salaries guaranteed, the Steelers will create $15.5MM in savings while generating a dead money charge of only $6.86MM. Those figures will help absorb the incoming Ramsey pact.
Pittsburgh has made a number of aggressive moves this offseason, deviating from standard operating procedure. The additions of Aaron Rodgers and D.K Metcalf were aimed at upgrading on offense, a unit which has been further augmented with today’s blockbuster. Ramsey will aim to further fuel the team’s Super Bowl aspirations for what will likely be a one-and-done Rodgers season. The Dolphins, meanwhile, will move forward in 2025 with a much different core in terms of veterans on both sides of the ball.
I’m a huge Dolphins fan, about time! I’m just glad I wontvhavecto hear about Ramsey trade talks anymore!
I hate to tell you this, but the moment that Dolphins secondary get torched, you will hear about this trade nonstop.
wondering what the return is
Just read M. Fitzpatrick is going in return
Minkah
Ramsey for Minkah?! Strange.
Why teams want cancers in their locker room is insane. Ramsey like so many other drama queens are not going to improve others play, they won’t sacrifice anything for anyone else nor will they be part of anything great
And, after reading Harrison’s recent comments about Tomlin, the “cancer” will have a healthy host to feed upon.
Good. Steelers needed a CB
And Jonnu to Pitt 👀
Fire Omar now. Terrible trade. I guess they wanted out of the Minkah deal
Which is weird because he wasn’t even that bad last season and seems like a prime candidate for a bounce back.
What the hell are the Steelers thinking?
Ramsey and Rodgers are going to kill each other in the locker room
Blake Bortles was his QB. He’ll be all right. Besides, Rodgers’ teammates have never had a problem with him. It’s actually one of his few redeeming qualities.
Steelers fan here… I couldn’t hate this trade more. 32 year old injury prone, locker room cancer for one of leagues best safeties. Ugh
Most talented safeties? Yeah probably. One of the best? That’s laughable. He went rouge the majority of the time, constantly out of position and trying to do too much while somehow doing nothing (1 turnover in 2 years). We’re better without him. Ramsey might not be what he was but there’s a reason we wanted minkah gone.
He’s 30 years old.
As a Bengals fan, I like this trade. Minkah is a game changer. Glad Bengals don’t have to game plan for him anymore. Ramsey on the backside of his career. Weird trade. Guess they had to fill the character void left by Pickens departure.
I like Minkah but tell me, when was the last time he changed a game? Guess it’s kind of an even swap to me
Perhaps it’s how they used him. They wanted him to be something of a Polamalu clone but simply put, the secondary has been suspect for a long time and throwing away from him wasn’t difficult.
Ramsey is a good coverage guy, something they sorely needed.
I dunno why they felt the need to make this deal and another end when a good number two wideout is the pressing need
You can always tell these people commenting emotionally critque players instead of going on play. Fitzpatrick was great when he first got traded, but he has been average since he re-signed. when I criticize their defense not living up to the hype every year down the stretch, he’s one of the main culprits because their secondary hasn’t been very good. Ramsey is an alpha dog and had coverage stats last year the same as Sauce Gardner, who the Jets are about to make the highest paid corner in football soon. Oh, and the people worried about safety, you do realize his first position in college was jumping on the field as a true freshman as a safety, which is what a lot of teams envisioned him as coming into the league, but he insisted on being a corner, right? Right. Seems like something simple you should know if you’re watching football every week.
Go listen to the podcast with Anquan Boldin. He was just talking about how cancerous players stop teams from being successful, that too many GM’s only look at play on the field and not locker room chemistry. The Hall of Famer pointing out the problem you are celebrating. It will be 5 years for the Steelers to recover from the ensuing crap show you are going to experience
He’s not a cancer. The Dolphins best player wanted him to stay. His defensive teammates love him. Furthemore, Boldin went through a whole season mad at the front office in Arizona, refusing to re-sign with them, and it was the best season in team history as they came up short in a Super Bowl. Business and personal feelings are two different things. Mike McDaniel has lost that locker room. You just had Bradley Chubb flat out say that they were lying to dude last year, and multiple players have called the team soft. But yeah, Jalen Ramsey was your problem, lmao.
That’s absurd. Jalen Ramsey at any Corner spot on the field, is better than any Safety in the league. The Steelers get to save money, AND fill a more valuable position? Yeah that is good business.
“Good business” until Ramsey wants out of Pittsburgh in a year or two
They didn’t save money.. Ramsey contract is guaranteed.. Minkah had no guarantees left.. the cap savings went to pay Ramsey who is making over $23mikl and they have Minkah dead cap hit to absorb.
Well said
WOW. Seems like the Steelers and Minkah were tired of each other. Curious to see how Tomlin deploys Ramsey. The Dolphins fully replace Holland, but now they’re in an even worse spot at corner, which was already dicey at best. As an NFL transactions enthusiast, I enjoy seeing a rare big player for player trade. Curious to see how it shakes out.
I have to agree, though I’m not really sold on Ramsey’s future value versus Fitzpatrick’s right now. Quite the shock, despite the oddly refreshing feeling of seeing a big name for big name trade.
WTF are the Steelers doing? Didn’t need another TE, and while a CB was needed not at the expense of their best safety.
Elliot was their best safety last year. Smith is probably going to be deployed as a WR in a lot of formations but I do hope they sign someone else (Davis when he is healthy and/or Cooper).
I really liked the resigning of Elliott. Just now razor thin at S, likely spot for cutdown day addition. Bishop and Trice being the 4th and 5th CBs is very nice depth.
Looking at the depth chart, it’s very lumpy with a lot of depth at certain spots (TE, DL, and now CB) and suspect in others (WR, OT, and now S). Will be interesting to see if there are any more moves during training camp
Uhhh they can split Smith out wide which will make matchup problems for the defense.
Wow. This confirms for me this is Tomlin’s last season as an HC before he takes his hiatus. No way he survives a year with both AR and JR. He’s finally met his match and will raise the white flag.
Typical anti-dolphins media bias calling Fitzpatrick washed NOW, not at any point before the trade.
Minkah Fitzpatrick has been a model player since he joined the Steelers and is two years younger than Jalen Ramsey. I’m surprised that the Steelers thought this trade a good idea.
Ramsey is older, injury-prone and a pain-in-the-neck.
He just hasn’t been worth the money since he got paid. There is that.
That’s probably fair, but is Ramsey better at this point? It’s a more valuable position, but Ramsey is not young and has locker room issues of his own. I’m not saying that he isn’t, just that it is questionable.
Ramsey is still an elite CB. He and Sauce Gardner had nearly identical pass coverage stats last year.
Fair enough, but Gardner himself did also have a down year compared to his first two (no real surprise, considering the absolute madness stack that Johnson put his team through).
It may end up being a good trade, we’ll see. I just would be hesitant right now to say that it was a slam dunk. It certainly was surprising.
You have an elite corner who you can slide over to safety on certain downs, which is ironically the role teams saw for Fitzpatrick entering the league except he couldn’t do it. He was very good when he got there, but he has been average or borderline bad the last couple of years. As far as age, he’s no spring chicken himself. Ramsey is an alpha dog. He was in college. He was with the Jaguars. He was with the Rams. He won titles in two of those places and spearheaded the back end of a defense that got a team QB’ed by Blake Bortles a quarter from the Super Bowl. This was a no-brainer if you’ve been watching each of them play. The Dolphin pass defense wasn’t their issue last year. Their QB again tried to play LB and got his bell rung, putting the whole team in jeopardy, and now the team doesn’t feel like they can trust him to be there, and even when he is, how good is he? He’s nowhere near the top four guys, and the HC lost that locker room. People are just cashing in their chips. Hill wants out too, but he probably walked it back because he likes living down there since that’s where he’s from.
Nice deal for the Fins. I wouldn’t mind if they wanted to flip Minkah to the Niners!
Minkah hasn’t been good in years. Most overrated player on the team the last few years.
Yep. You can tell who watches football. He re-signed that deal, and he has been average since.
Last two years he has had like 2 INTs and a bunch of tackles on guys he let’s catch balls.
100+ passer rating on balls his way last year.
Glad im not the only one who knows this.
Steelers host the Dolphins in prime time on Monday December 15. Definitely want to mark the calendar for this one.
Steelers will be a bigger show off the field than on it. Should have kept Pickens and it would have been a 3 ring circus. Much like with the Bulls F.O. you just shake your head and go WTF?
Two corners (Ramsey and Porter) that will allow the rush to materialize. Safety is a replaceable position. It’s not like he was Troy. I see sacks increasing as this is the make or break year for the Steelers. Looks like they’re committed to ‘25 before doing an overhaul.
Slay too
*cough* Dolphins tanking *cough*