Jalen Ramsey or Minkah Fitzpatrick: Who Would Be a Better Fit in Oakland?

Who knows if the Raiders have plans to go after Minkah Fitzpatrick or Jalen Ramsey in a trade, but both are certainly there for the taking.

Few teams are equipped with trade capital like the Raiders, but would Jon Gruden be willing to dump one of his 2020 first-round picks on either of the two? Let’s look at what the Raiders would have to consider in any potential trade for Fitzpatrick and Ramsey.

Minkah Fitzpatrick 

Age: 22

Trade: The Dolphins seem to be convinced that they can get a first-round pick for Fitzpatrick and they absolutely should. He was arguably a top-10 player in last year’s draft and hasn’t been a disappointment as a pro.

Cost: Fitzpatrick still has three cheap years (and a team option fifth year) on his rookie deal. His cap hit in each of the next three years would be very manageable. 2019 ($3.7M), 2020 ($4.4M), 2021 ($5.2M).

Position: Fitzpatrick is versatile and could play both safety and slot cornerback. The Raiders need a safety, but don’t need a slot cornerback at all. Is he an All Pro or even Pro Bowl level talent? Maybe one, maybe both, but neither are a guarantee at this point in his career.

Locker room: Fitzpatrick, by all accounts, is exactly the kind of teammate and hard worker every coach wants. He was considered to have “plus intangibles” coming out of Alabama.

Jalen Ramsey

Age: 24

Trade: The Jaguars will ask a lot for Ramsey, considering anyone trading for him will have to hand him a record contract, it’s hard to know what his trade value would be. Khalil Mack (and a second-round pick) was traded for two first-round picks last year and Ramsey might be worth half of that cost on the trade market. But it’s hard to know. It only takes one team.

Cost: The highest-paid cornerbacks in the league right now are counting between $13 and $14 million per year against the salary cap. Ramsey will want to sign for a bit more than that. Like the Mack trade, Ramsey will likely get his new deal at the time of the trade.

Position: Shut down CB1. Line Ramsey up against the other team’s best receiver and watch the enemy starve.

Locker room: Ramsey has some maturing to do as a locker room guy. He wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice to turn around the team culture – for the better at least. Ramsey comes with serious swag, though, for whatever that’s worth.

Verdict:

The Raiders need both. Al Davis would have paid Ramsey yesterday and Fitzpatrick might give the Raiders one of the best young safety tandems in the league for the next 3-4 years.

Trade for both? Absolutely. Draft picks don’t win championships. Players do.

twitter: @raidersbeat

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3 thoughts on “Jalen Ramsey or Minkah Fitzpatrick: Who Would Be a Better Fit in Oakland?

  1. I would be all in on both these guys and give up both first rounders if we knew that Carr was the answer at QB.

  2. The right draft picks do win championships. Listen, we’ve traded away a lot draft picks over the last two years and came away with nothing. See Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant. Ramsey might be great but he’s definitely a diva and we just had a rather traumatic experience with the last one.

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