Of all the strange developments of the 2025 offseason, one of the newest is one of the strangest.
Months after making cornerback Jalen Ramsey the highest-paid player in the league at his position, the Dolphins have decided to move on.
When confirming the situation on Tuesday, G.M. Chris Grier was vague. Common sense suggests that he kept things ambiguous as a matter of strategy. If an interested team believes the Dolphins are desperate to turn the page, a better deal could be done to get him.
The Dolphins have already paid Ramsey a $4 million roster bonus. They owe him another $20.153 million over the balance of the year. Every penny is fully guaranteed.
It seems inevitable that the Dolphins will have to foot some of the bill in order to facilitate a trade. The higher the pick they want, the more they likely will have to pay.
If they keep Ramsey, they’ll have to pay it all. Based on the current circumstances, it seems hard to imagine a trade not happening. But no trade can happen unless someone will trade for him.
Both sides will have to be prepared to put the toothpaste back in the tube. Which becomes another source of tension and stress if the Dolphins don’t start, and stay, hot in 2025.
Ideally for the Dolphins, they’d lure multiple teams to the table. That’s the kind of development that can lead to a better deal. Even more ideally, they would have made a trade happen earlier in the offseason, before the $4 million was earned — and before teams began devoting their budgets to other veteran players.
It feels like there’s a lot more to this story. For now, the details are being kept under wraps. But something had to have happened to result in the sudden availability of Ramsey. Regardless of how it got started, one side or the other (or both) have decided to end the relationship.
No matter how it plays out, it’s fair to say the Dolphins regret paying him last September. The fact that they did only increases the pressure on the current regime to have a strong season. If not, massive changes could be inevitable after the 2025 season ends.
If the Dolphins struggle enough, the changes could happen during the upcoming campaign.
On Tuesday, Dolphins G.M. Chris Grier said the team isn’t pursuing a Tyreek Hill trade. But Grier hardly slammed the door on the possibility.
“If someone wants to come and give me two first round picks, then we’d consider it,” Grier said.
No one will be offering a pair of first-round picks for Hill at this point. What is someone offers something relatively close to that?
Three years ago, the Dolphins gave up a first-round pick, a second-round pick, two fourth-round picks, and a sixth-round pick to get Hill. He’s now 31. He had a not-spectacular 2024 season, with 959 receiving yards in 17 games.
Grier also said no one has called him about a potential trade for Hill. If that’s true (and in the days preceding the draft we should assume nothing is), it represents a collective belief on behalf of the other 31 teams that Hill isn’t regarded as the player he once was.
And so, even if the Dolphins would be inclined to listen, there’s nothing to listen to. It leaves them on the hook for more than $25 million in fully-guaranteed compensation in 2025, along with $1.8 million in per-game active roster bonuses.
Complicating a trade would be the cap consequences. Before June 1, the Dolphins would absorb $28.28 million in dead money. After June 1, it would be $12.72 million this year and $15.56 million in 2026.
Still, a trade would free up $25.85 million in cash. With no one calling (if no one has called), it means that other teams don’t think Hill is worth the money and the draft picks that would be needed to get the Dolphins to trade him.
The one question the Dolphins surely won’t answer at this point, or ever, is whether they still think Hill is worth the money. With his compensation package spiking to $35 million in 2026 (along with a cap number of more than $51 million), the one question that doesn’t need to be answered is whether, absent a revised deal, 2025 will be Hill’s last year in Miami.
The Dolphins are working to trade Jalen Ramsey and shipping the veteran out would increase the responsibilities of the rest of the cornerback corps in Miami.
Cam Smith is part of that group and the 2023 second-round pick has not lived up to expectations to this point in his NFL career. Smith played 15 games as a rookie, but played almost exclusively on special teams and ended the year with two tackles. He had more of a defensive role in 2024, but only appeared in six games due to two stints on injured reserve.
During a Tuesday press conference, Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier made it clear that the Dolphins are looking for more.
“Cam Smith needs to come through at the end of the day,” Grier said, via a transcript from the team. “He’s got to stay healthy and be on the field. He has shown some flashes, but this is a very big year. He knows what’s expected because we can’t hold his hand and wait for him anymore.”
Whether the Dolphins move Ramsey ahead of the draft or not, they’ll likely need to address the cornerback spot with one or more of their picks because they’re short on proven assets beyond the player they’re trying to remove from the roster as soon as possible.
The Dolphins desperately need a competent backup to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. One who can run the offense the way Tua does, when Tua can’t. In recent years, they obviously have lacked that kind of player.
They think they have one now in Zach Wilson.
On Tuesday, G.M. Chris Grier explained why they opted for Wilson in lieu of a more experienced option.
“I think as we were all going through it and we spent a lot of time on that with Mike [McDaniel] and the offensive coaches and the scouts, and we just felt like Zach had a lot of potential and a lot of talent, and I know you could go the veteran route with someone more proven,” Grier told reporters. “Zach has won a few games. I know everyone is going to say his record and stuff, but I think for us in dealing with it and getting to know him, talking once he signed and getting to know him and going through it and going back to the relationships people had with him prior to the draft when he came out. We just felt that in talking to him and some veterans that he was the right fit and right choice for us because we do think that his skill set really fits what our offense does.”
Wilson has a 12-21 record in 33 starts with the Jets. But it was the Jets. The team that derailed the early careers of Geno Smith and Sam Darnold.
Four years ago, Wilson was a top-two pick — owner Woody Johnson’s revisionist history notwithstanding. And he has the skill set to run the Miami offense the same way Tua does.
That’s exactly what they have to have. Someone who can do the things Tua does, if/when Tua is injured. What other veteran who was available this year has that kind of athleticism and mobility? Maybe Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota, or Taylor Heinicke. Those options would have been criticized as much, if not more, than Wilson.
Ideally, the Dolphins won’t need Wilson to play. Given Tua’s history (he has missed 10 games in the last three seasons), they need to have someone who can help them win games if/when Tua isn’t able to play.
They need it more than ever this year, because it feels as if the heat is rising for the current Miami regime.
The Dolphins revealed Tuesday that they are seeking to trade cornerback Jalen Ramsey. General Manager Chris Grier did not specify the reason for shopping Ramsey, who the Dolphins have paid a $4 million roster bonus with $21 million left to be paid in 2025.
He will become the latest big name to depart Miami this offseaosn.
Defensive tackle Calais Campbell left in free agency, returning to Arizona, and left tackle Terron Armstead retired.
Grier scoffed at the suggestion that the Dolphins are in a “soft rebuild” or “a reset.”
“No. That word has not been brought up at all,” Grier said, via a transcript from the team. “We have a lot of really good football players on this roster still at some places that impact games, so that word has not been used at all. Our goal is to win, win this year and keep winning for sustained success in the future.”
The Dolphins, who missed the playoffs in 2024 with an 8-9 record, have not won a playoff game since 2000. They haven’t won the Super Bowl since 1973 and last played in the Super Bowl in 1984.
Grier is entering his 10th season as G.M. and coach Mike McDaniel his fourth. It’s a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league as well as a not-for-long league, and the Dolphins have only three postseason appearances and no postseason wins in Grier’s tenure.
Grier insists he feels no additional pressure this season.
“I feel pressure every year to win,” Grier said. “If you don’t have pressure and want to win each year, then we’re in the wrong business. We know what it is. We went to the playoffs two years and people liked some of the stuff we did, and then last year, we struggled early and couldn’t get out of it and now everybody wants us all fired. So you understand what’s going on. You feel the pressure, but you don’t let it drive you. You do your job to the best of your ability and work with guys, and you have to work under pressure. So for me, it’s just doing the best job we can and making good, smart decisions for the Miami Dolphins.”
The Dolphins are looking at trade options involving cornerback Jalen Ramsey, but they are not doing the same with wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Hill’s future with the Dolphins became a talking point due to Hill’s comments at the end of the 2024 season, but the wideout reversed course to say that he isn’t trying to leave Miami and the Dolphins have said they plan to move forward with Hill. General Manager Chris Grier said on Tuesday that the team’s view hasn’t changed.
Hill was involved in a domestic dispute earlier this month that led to police being called and the NFL has requested information about the incident, but there were no charges filed and Grier said at a press conference that the team is not working to send Hill to another team.
“That is not anything that we’re pursuing,” Grier said. “Like I said, if someone wants to come and give me two first round picks then we’d consider it. But, as of right now, it’s not something we’re considering.”
It seems unlikely that anyone would be willing to part with two first round selections for Hill, so it seems likely that he’ll be back for another season in Miami.
General Manager Chris Grier confirmed that the Dolphins are looking to trade defensive back Jalen Ramsey in his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Grier noted that while Ramsey did not request a trade, nor did he want a contract adjustment, the team and player eventually agreed that a trade would be best for both parties. Grier also said that there were “a couple weeks” of discussions between Miami and Ramsey’s representation.
“I will say, these decisions aren’t done quickly and they’re not taken lightly because we’ve spent a lot of time this offseason working through this, talking through things,” Grier said. “At the end of the day, Jalen did not ask for a trade. So, we went through the process and just felt that after numerous conversations and then talking last week with Jalen and his agent, that it was best to move forward. And [it’s the] best interest of the Miami Dolphins and for Jalen Ramsey.”
Ramsey, 30, was acquired via trade from the Rams in the 2023 offseason. While he missed seven games that year due to a knee injury, he started all 17 in 2024, playing 97 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps. He recorded 22 passes defensed with two interceptions plus a sack and six tackles for loss last season.
The No. 5 overall pick of the 2016 draft, Ramsey was traded from the Jaguars to the Rams midway through the 2019 season. He won Super Bowl LVI with Los Angeles to cap the 2021 season.
Grier noted he wasn’t sure about the timing of a Ramsey trade, but it could happen before, during, or after the draft. Grier declined to say whether Ramsey was unhappy with the scheme, noting he was going to keep the content of the discussions between team and player in-house.
“I think when you’re talking through the offseason and all these conversations are happening through the offseason, you’re still working and you try to prepare for scenarios,” Grier said. “So, again, this was a long discussion — many discussions, I would say — throughout the offseason. This wasn’t anything we rushed to and just said today, let’s do this. So, we’re prepared if he’s here, we’ll deal with it. And if he’s not, we’ll adjust as well. So, we feel good about where it is.
“It’s never easy to replace a player like Jalen. He was a good player for us. He’s a good player. He’ll probably be a Hall of Famer here. But for the Miami Dolphins going forward, we feel like this is the best chance to help us win — not only just this year but in the future as well.”
Ramsey has been selected to seven Pro Bowls and is a three-time AP first-team All-Pro. He has recorded 108 passes defensed, 24 interceptions, six forced fumbles, 27 tackles for loss, and 3.0 sacks in his nine-year career.
Last September, the Dolphins rushed to give cornerback Jalen Ramsey a contract with a new-money average of $24.1 million, days after the Broncos made cornerback Patrick Surtain II the highest-paid cornerback with a new-money average of $24 million.
Fewer than eight months later, the Dolphins are looking to trade Ramsey.
Which means they never should have given him his latest contract.
A trade will have significant consequences. Based on the terms of his contract from last year — and the existing proration from the prior deal — a trade before June 1 will trigger a $25.213 million dead-money charge. After June 1, a trade would split the dead money into $6.745 million in 2025 and $18.468 million in 2026.
Ramsey has already received a $4 million roster bonus on March 16. The best time to trade him would have been before that bill came due.
Ramsey also has a fully-guaranteed option bonus for 2025, in the amount of $18.98 million. The new team would be on the hook for that payment, along with a fully-guaranteed base salary for 2025 of $1.255 million. That’s $20.153 million for a 31-year-old cornerback whose best days are in the rear-view mirror.
It makes for a tough sell. The Dolphins may have to pay some of that $20.153 million to make a trade happen.
They’re going to pay it anyway, thanks to a contract that seemed like a stretch at the time and that now can fairly be called ill-advised.
Cornerback Jalen Ramsey may be on the move.
NFL Media reports that the Dolphins and Ramsey have mutually agreed to explore trade options heading into the 2025 season.
Ramsey signed a three-year extension with the Dolphins before the 2024 season, but the first new year of the deal is not until 2026 so he is under contract through the 2028 campaign. The last guaranteed money included in his deal comes this year, however, and he was due around $25 million in salary and bonuses for the coming season.
Ramsey started every game for the Dolphins last season and recorded 60 tackles, two interceptions and a sack. He was not selected for the Pro Bowl for the first time since his rookie season and the three-time All-Pro has not been selected for that roster since he was with the Rams in 2021.
Next week’s draft could provide an opportunity to move Ramsey for draft pick compensation and such a move could signal a shift in focus for the Dolphins after they failed to reach the playoffs last season.
Former Washington State receiver Kyle Williams is having a busy April.
Per NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo, a total of nine teams have set up pre-draft visits with Williams. He was with the Dolphins on Sunday and is set to visit the Bears, 49ers, and Seahawks this week.
Williams, 22, played his first three collegiate seasons at UNLV and spent the last two years with Washington State. He finished the 2024 season with 70 catches for 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games.
He played 50 career games for UNLV and Washington State, catching 248 passes for 3,609 yards with 29 TDs.
Williams impressed at the scouting combine with his 4.4-second 40-yard dash and is projected to be a second or third-round pick in this year’s draft.
