Why adding Jalen Ramsey to the Detroit Lions could be dangerous

Ramsey’s Ripple Effect

The acquisition of Ramsey would have a ripple effect. Something the Lions would need to consider before making such a move. While there doesn’t seem to be a downside to having Ramsey lined up across from Slay on the field, there would be an off-field effect that the Lions would need to be prepared to handle.

We need to consider that Ramsey only has this season and next left on his contract. Ironically, so does Darius Slay. This past offseason Slay tried to renegotiate his contract unsuccessfully and I think it can be assumed he will try again this offseason. We should also expect that Ramsey if acquired, wouldn’t mind getting a new deal done as well unless he is not interested in staying in Detroit.

However, earlier this week Ramsey ‘liked’ a tweet mentioning the possibility of him being traded to Detroit, so one would have to assume he either wouldn’t mind being a Lion or it was just his way of emphasizing his request to get out of Jacksonville.

One way or another the question becomes; does this move make the Lions capable of winning the Super Bowl this year? Because everything is a little hazy after that.

It would be almost impossible for the Lions to satisfy both Ramsey and Slay’s contractual desires, which means that they would virtually have to choose one or the other. Then they would have little bargaining power to even trade one of them because of their expiring contracts.

And that would be costly to this franchise if they indeed had to give up two first-round picks to get Ramsey in the first place.

On paper, this seems like a great match, but when you consider the off-field ramifications in a salary cap league, it isn’t really a slam dunk decision. If the Lions acquired Ramsey and won the Super Bowl, then it would absolutely be worth the impending issues, but if not … then the loss of vital draft picks and the resulting decisions that would need to be made make it very hard to justify such a move.

Ultimately it is up to Lions general manager Bob Quinn to decide if this would be a deal worth pursuing and ultimately he would have to have a plan in place to make it work. Obviously, if he did make it work, the Lions would certainly be contenders and Quinn would be lauded as a genius, but if it were to backfire, then it could set this backward franchise back yet again.