General manager Ozzie Newsome confirmed over the weekend that the Ravens attempted to trade up to the fourth overall pick to draft Florida State defensive back Jalen Ramsey, but we now know more details about why a deal never came to fruition with Dallas.
According to Sports Illustrated, Dallas offered to trade the No. 4 pick to Baltimore for the sixth overall selection and a third-round choice (70th overall), but the Ravens only offered their first-round pick and their original fourth-round selection (104th overall) to move up. Of course, the trade never happened as the Cowboys took Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott, Jacksonville nabbed Ramsey, and the Ravens selected Notre Dame left tackle Ronnie Stanley.
So, why wouldn’t the Cowboys move down two spots since Jacksonville was never considered a threat to take Elliott? Because they didn’t deem an extra fourth-round pick worth the risk of another team potentially calling the Jaguars to move into the fifth spot — ahead of Dallas — to take the best running back in the draft.
If you study the many draft trade value charts out there — which aren’t gospel, of course, but provide a nice guideline — the difference in value between the No. 4 and No. 6 picks in the draft comes to 200 points. The 70th pick that the Cowboys requested is worth 240 points, which Newsome and the Ravens considered to be too pricey. However, the 104th overall pick offered to Dallas is valued at just 86 points, making you understand why Dallas balked at a low-ball offer to move down.
Was the Cowboys’ asking price steep? A little bit, but it was more reasonable than the reported counteroffer made by the Ravens, making you question just how badly they wanted Ramsey.
In the end, the Ravens took Stanley at No. 6 and then Brigham Young defensive end Bronson Kaufusi with that third-round pick instead of pulling the trigger to draft Ramsey. Newsome used the fourth-round pick he had offered to the Cowboys to select Temple cornerback Tavon Young with his first pick on Saturday.
We’ll see how that decision plays out over time, but the inability to pull off the trade contributed to the Ravens not drafting a cornerback in the first three rounds for the fifth consecutive year.
