Pro Football Rumors
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero made an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show yesterday, in which he gave some keen insight on two recent trades made by the Dolphins with the Steelers and Giants.
Pelissero started by underlining the influence Jalen Ramsey had held in Miami, noting his impact on former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio‘s dismissal from the team. We had noted, shortly after Fangio’s departure was finalized, that Ramsey and a few other defensive backs had expressed issues with the defensive play-caller, and Pelissero confirmed as much, pointing out that the two never clicked due to Fangio’s inflexibility in putting Ramsey in the best position to succeed.
He goes on to say that, while discussions with the Steelers had been ongoing, there was always doubt about whether or not Ramsey would accept Pittsburgh as a trade destination. From the Jaguars to the Rams to the Dolphins, Ramsey has never played for a cold-weather team, and the prevailing assumption was that a return to Los Angeles was most likely. Ultimately, the Rams seemingly lacked the cash and cap space to take on Ramsey’s contract, and while the Chargers exchanged several calls with Miami, they never found a deal that interested them.
Mostly, the Dolphins were focused on player-for-player trades. Knowing how big of a deterrent Ramsey’s contract was for potential trade partners, the team knew that it would have to take on a big salary in return. With that in mind, they turned back to Pittsburgh to reunite with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. They’ll now take on the two remaining years on Fitzpatrick’s contract, which doesn’t contain any guarantees. In fact, if his doesn’t work out on the team in 2025, they can cut him with only $6.86MM in dead money in order to obtain $17.6MM in cap savings.
In order to sweeten the pot and bring the Steelers back to the table, they included Jonnu Smith. Smith is an apparent favorite tight end of Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. The two were in Atlanta together in 2023 and will reunite after a career year for the tight end. Smith’s recent production and Fitpatrick’s declining production made taking on Ramsey’s contract a bit more palatable for Pittsburgh. As a result, Pittsburgh extended Smith for another year elevating his annual average salary from $4.2MM on the original two-year deal to $6.8MM per year over three seasons with the extension.
Ramsey also received some money from the trade, Pelissero explains. While, technically, he isn’t receiving any additional funds from the Steelers or Dolphins, he was owed $1.5MM of his salary from Miami this year and $1.5MM of his salary in 2026, as well. With the trade taking place, the Dolphins essentially advanced the $3MM to Ramsey upfront, while the Steelers take on the remainder of Ramsey’s contract.
Pelissero also spoke on the team’s acquisition of formerly retired tight end Darren Waller, a trade, he says, that materialized relatively quickly. Waller and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, reportedly reached out to the Giants last week,...
