Although the Pittsburgh Steelers’ trade for superstar cornerback Jalen Ramsey is already complete, ESPN NFL insider Field Yates revealed a few “leftover financial nuggets” on July 8.
He listed them one by one, reporting: “The [Miami] Dolphins paid out $3M of Jalen Ramsey’s 2025 compensation to help facilitate the deal. The Steelers added $1.5M to Ramsey’s 2025 compensation, borrowing $1.5M from next year’s salary to do so. [And] Ramsey had $765K in per-game roster bonuses in 2026-2028 that have been converted to base salary in those years. A nice benefit for Ramsey in future years.”
Per Over the Cap, Ramsey’s current contract has void years that run through the end of the 2031 season, but he’s only under contract through 2028.
Having said that, the Steelers have pretty clean “outs” in his contract from 2026 through 2028, in which they could cut ties with Ramsey as a post-June 1 release. The dead cap hits on a post-June 1 release are currently listed as $6.745 million in 2026 and 2027, and only $4.978 million in 2028.
However, those dead cap figures could increase slightly following Yates’ reporting of the $765K game check bonuses from 2026-28 being converted into base salary.
Steelers Community Reacts to Jalen Ramsey Trade Update
A few media members of the Steelers community reacted to Yates’ update on July 8, including Steelers Now beat reporter Alan Saunders.
“Still need to see more to firmly calculate Ramsey’s cap hit, but it could be pretty low this year,” Saunders speculated. “Somewhere in the $6-7 million range looks possible.”
On a similar note, Steelers Depot commented: “This allows the Steelers to put a little more cash on the 2025 books after Dolphins ate $3M. Additionally, and not surprisingly, the Steelers immediately got those per-game roster bonuses worked out of the contract. They have a long history of that with non-QBs they acquire with existing deals.”
In a follow-up post, Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot also reiterated that “the Steelers hate those per-game roster bonuses [and] work them out of every contract they take on.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Pittsburgh reworks Ramsey’s contract again before Week 1, or if both parties are satisfied for the time being.
Can Jalen Ramsey Help Elevate Steelers’ Secondary Back to No. 1 in NFL for Interceptions?
Three seasons ago, in 2022, the Steelers were tied with the San Francisco 49ers for No. 1 in team interceptions. Both teams recorded 20 during the campaign.
Pittsburgh has by no means fallen off completely since then, but they have regressed slightly.
In 2023, the Steelers registered 16 interceptions, which was tied for 11th in the NFL. And then last year, they raised that number up to 17, which was tied for third.
For a franchise like Pittsburgh that so heavily relies on defense, the takeaway numbers are of massive importance. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was no longer carrying his weight in that area, with just 1 lone interception over the past two seasons.
The outcome? The Steelers sent him packing.
Now, Ramsey, who has 25 career interceptions between the regular season and playoffs combined, will be tasked with elevating this unit back to where they were in 2022.
Ramsey’s interception totals have fluctuated over the years, like Fitzpatrick’s, but he was able to come up with 4 INTs in 2022, 3 in 2023, and 2 in 2024. If he can trend more toward 3 or 4 than 1 or 2, it’ll already be an improvement on the former ball-hawking safety.
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