The Pittsburgh Steelers bolstered their secondary by acquiring CB Jalen Ramsey along with TE Jonnu Smith in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, but it may wind up being a short-term arrangement. Appearing on 93.7 The Fan, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that while he didn’t dislike the move to acquire Ramsey, he thinks Ramsey is a question mark.
“He’s on his fourth team now. He likes to talk a little bit, brings an edge, he brings an attitude. I think that can be good for a defense, but there’s probably a reason he’s on his fourth team as well,” Fittipaldo said Friday.
Fittipaldo thinks there’s a chance Ramsey could be gone following the 2025 season.
“Clearly the whole Minkah [Fitzpatrick] thing wasn’t working out. I’m fine moving on from Minkah, but I just don’t know how the Jalen Ramsey thing is gonna work out,” he said. “It’s basically a one-year deal, they can walk away from it. And sometimes when that happens, when you’re just working on a one-year deal, you’re not committed to it long-term. And maybe they will be by the time training camp starts, maybe [there will be] be a new contract or whatever in place. But right now that’s a little bit of an unknown to me right now.”
The Steelers do have the ability to get out of Ramsey’s contract following this season, but it feels unlikely. Even though Ramsey is 31, with the Steelers giving up FS Minkah Fitzpatrick to acquire him, ideally he’s around for multiple seasons. Either his play would have to drastically decline, or his attitude would be an issue for the Steelers to move off him after one season.
There were reportedly attitude issues with Ramsey in Miami, as he frequently showed up late to practice and reportedly tried to undermine head coach Mike McDaniel last season and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in 2023. A change of scenery and playing under Mike Tomlin should hopefully eliminate those issues, and Ramsey seems excited to be in Pittsburgh.
It’s still something worth noting, and Fittipaldo alluded to the idea that maybe Ramsey’s attitude is the reason why he’s now on his fourth team despite being a multiple-time All-Pro. The Steelers are hoping those issues are in the past and that Ramsey can be a versatile chess piece for them, playing outside, in the slot and even a little bit at safety.
His versatility as a whole should benefit Pittsburgh’s defense, and if Jalen Ramsey can maintain his level of play and act like a professional, he should be around longer than one season.
