Jaguars: It was time to move on from Jalen Ramsey

The decision to trade Jalen Ramsey ends a month-long media circus that has given the Jacksonville Jaguars the draft picks to move forward.

In the back of my mind, I have this image of members of the Jacksonville Jaguars front office collectively exhaling after it was announced that the team had traded disgruntled cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams.

After a continual tug-of-war between the player in the organization, one of the lowest points in team history has come to an end and.

In a prepared statement released by the Jaguars this morning, Tom Coughlin, the executive vice president of football operations. said the franchise did what it felt was the best for everyone involved.

"“Given the situation with Jalen, we made this decision based on what we thought is in the best interest of the Jacksonville Jaguars, for this season and well into the future,” he said.“We feel the trade that we struck with the Rams gives us great value for the next two drafts, and we remain very confident that our team today will compete this season for a division title. Jalen was a productive player, but the time came to move on and we wish him and his family the best in Los Angeles.”"

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I understand this is a business, with the NFL being one of those sports where players are known for the numbers and names on the backs of their jerseys. Ramsey was a cerebral player here in Jacksonville, who wasn’t shy about letting everybody know his opinion and speaking out against things that he felt were unjust. They didn’t just involve him, rather his teammates, and the coaching staff, and the front office. You get the picture.

As a fan, Ramsey is the type of player you want on your team. He makes his teammates better around him and he is, when healthy, one of the best players in the NFL and one of the best at his position.

As someone covering the team, there comes a point where you want this to end. There are a few ways to look at the situation, and besides the fact that the Jaguars acquired a nice ransom for Ramsey, the best thing for both sides involved was to move on and divorce each other as amicably as possible.

As Coughlin said, the team did well in acquiring the draft picks they did, which will help build this team for the future. But Ramsey’s absence is going to do one of two things. It’s going to galvanize the roster where this roster comes together once again and wins football games, or it’s going to show how important he was to this defense and how the secondary isn’t as complete without him.

A friend of mine took to social media yesterday and said that he believed that we should get this out of our system. Take the day to rant, complain, praise or whatever we need to do to put this behind us as Jaguars fans. I don’t think that’s gonna happen. This is something that’s going to linger. And judging by what I’ve read the last 24 hours from fans here in Jacksonville, people are mad. They feel betrayed. They feel lost.

A player that they have supported and paid good money to buy his merchandise and see play football on a weekly basis let them down. We will never know the entire story of how this all broke down. That’s not our place. Football is one of those sports that is based on emotion on the field and in the stands.

That’s why fantasy football has taken on its own sport. It’s why we hang on every word a player says and we follow his every action. We invest time, which is something that the NFL capitalizes on. The jaguars are no different. They work to put the best product on the field as we keep coming back for more.

Last season, a disgruntled and angry Dante Fowler was traded at the deadline, ending a saga of a player who was drafted highly in the first round who did not produce as his draft status would warrant. Ramsey went on the field, played with intensity, heart, and determination. You couldn’t ask for anything better. And while there is plenty of discussion as to how good he actually is, I for one I’m going to miss the fact that there are few people on the field who played with as much fire in intensity as this young man.

The Jaguars are going to be hard-pressed to find somebody to replace him to that degree. Now everyone moves forward post-Jalen Ramsey. Jaguars fans should understand this is going to hurt, but hopefully the pain is temporary. There is still plenty of football be played and 11 weeks left in the season.

The Jaguars coaching staff believes in the theory that after Tuesday, you move onto the next game and prepare for your next opponent. Hopefully, the fans will do the same thing and move on to this week in our game against the Bengals. A victory this week and next week against the Jets will go along way toward putting this soap opera to bed.

By then, with a 4-4 record, fans will be worried about different things than whether or not Number 20 is showing up in black and teal. They’ll be wondering what will happen in London against the Texans and whether or not this team will remain in contention for a playoff berth because, in reality, that’s the only thing that matters.