Dolphins give Jalen Ramsey massive contract extension; cornerback questionable for opener vs. Jaguars

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Make Jalen Ramsey the latest to receive a lucrative contract extension from the Miami Dolphins.

Ramsey and the Dolphins agreed to a three-year extension. The deal is worth $72.3 million, according to NFL Network, to make him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback once again. It includes $55.3 million guaranteed.

The $24.1 million per year gives him a slight edge over Patrick Surtain II of the Denver Broncos, the local high school product from American Heritage and son of the former Dolphins cornerback by the same name, to give Ramsey the top spot among players at his position.

“It’s always important to feel valued, first of all, and get paid for all your hard work and dedication and sacrifices,” Ramsey said Friday after participating in practice.

Ramsey, who turns 30 on Oct. 24, is now under contract with Miami through 2028.

“Ever since I got here, it’s been a great relationship. It’s been a growing relationship,” Ramsey said. “They’ve learned a lot about me, who I am as, not only the player, but the person. And same, I’ve learned a lot about them, how real they are and the men and women they have in this organization.”

The sides struck the deal days ago, but Ramsey, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury, wanted to make sure he was set for a return to the field before the news came out. Returning to practice Friday, he was listed as questionable for Sunday’s season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I felt like that was kind of the right thing to do,” he said. “It was my first time having this injury. Even in times where I felt like I’m good, I had to just trust the training staff to know, even if you feel like that, we can’t have you go crazy and re-aggravate it or anything like that.”

After missing Wednesday and Thursday practices this week ahead of the opener, Ramsey practiced Friday for just the second time in the past several weeks. He was seen running, working on his stop-and-go, change of direction and backpedal.

“We’re going to be smart, but we want to get him out there,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said.

The Dolphins are still keeping open the possibility that Ramsey plays in the all-Florida Week 1 pairing at Hard Rock Stadium against one of Ramsey’s former teams.

Ramsey said “we’ll see” when it comes to his availability Sunday.

“I always want to play football. Whenever I get the opportunity, I never take it for granted,” he said. “But I also got to trust the training staff and coaches and hold myself back sometimes.”

He added that the Dolphins playing their next game Thursday night against the Buffalo also factors into the equation.

Ramsey first sustained the hamstring injury during training camp. He has only practiced once in the past several weeks. The affected body part was not known until it was revealed on Wednesday’s initial injury report of the new season.

With Ramsey in the lineup, Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver has his best cover corner, one he can move around and use in versatile ways in the scheme.

Without Ramsey, Kader Kohou would likely be elevated into the Dolphins’ No. 2 cornerback role opposite Kendall Fuller. In nickel packages of five defensive backs, which are likely to be seen more often than the base defense, it could be young cornerbacks Ethan Bonner or rookie Storm Duck, possibly with Kohou moving inside from the boundary to cover the slot receiver. Weaver mentioned each of the former undrafted cornerbacks — Bonner in 2023 — as having an opportunity to contribute. Three-safety looks can also be a possibility at some point.

Ramsey, a Florida State product, was selected by the Jaguars with the No. 5 pick in the 2016 draft. He was traded to the Los Angeles Rams during the 2019 season, where he stayed through the 2022 season before getting traded to the Dolphins in the 2023 offseason.

Ramsey is the latest to earn a lucrative extension from Miami ahead of the season after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle also got paid, along with coach Mike McDaniel.

With Ramsey taken care of once more and several others with their futures in Miami secured, safety Jevon Holland is among those who has not yet been given an extension. He enters the final year of his rookie contract in 2024.

McDaniel declined to discuss Holland’s contractual circumstances, noting his conversations with the safety surround his play.

“I talk to him every day, and we talk about football,” McDaniel said. “All the stuff that’s not fun, that’s the great thing about (general manager) Chris Grier. I’ll leave him to do his job. We talk football, and that’s it.”