After Gilmore deal and Slay release, LA Rams Jalen Ramsey trade appears much better

Sometimes, the way we feel depends solely on perspective. For example, take the recent trade of LA Rams star defensive back Jalen Ramsey, a player who we believed could net the LA Rams as much as a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. When the LA Rams ended up with only a third-round pick and a seldom-used tight end named Hunter Long, the takeaway from my perspective was that the LA Rams were fleeced by the Dolphins.

The consolation prize to all of this is the fact that the LA Rams land their third Top-100 draft pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, just one year after have no Top-100 draft picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Ramsey trade left fans and beat reporters little to cheer about. But that was then, this is now. Time is a great lens to add perspective. You see, now we know a bit more about the 2023 Free Agency Market. For starters, the Indianapolis Colts traded five-time Pro Bowl DB Stephon Gilmore to the Dallas Cowboys for no more than a late fifth-round pick. And soon afterward, the Philadelphia Eagles announced that they will be releasing DB Darius Slay outright:

The NFL Free Agency Market is a fickle marketplace. Price of players are driven by supply and demand, true. But the supply of veteran players at higher market prices is often taken against an influx of inexpensive rookie talent in the upcoming NFL Draft. Several years ago, a deep and talented rookie crop of quarterbacks drove the price of veteran quarterbacks to their cheapest levels in years.

This year, its a deep and talented rookie crop of cornerbacks that is driving the value of veteran defensive backs spiralling downward. Ironically, the lack of elite quarterback talent in the 2023 NFL Draft is helping the value of veteran quarterbacks to exceed projections.

No, I'm not suddenly happy about the Rams return from the Miami Dolphins. Time may be a great lens to add better perspective, but it will take a lot of time to prove to me that the Rams received even close to the value that the Dolphins did in their exchange. But I no longer feel as though the Rams got fleeced. Now, it's just a matter of the Rams selling a star NFL player from the wrong position to get optimal value. For now, that will just have to do.