At a time when the eighth overall pick in the 2018 draft remains unsigned due to the issue of voided guarantees, the fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft likely has had his remaining guarantees voided.
Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey, suspended for a week by the team, most likely has seen the financial protections for 2018 and 2019 evaporate by virtue of the punishment. (It’s possible, but not likely, that Ramsey secured the removal of language voiding the guarantee for a team-imposed suspension.)
Ramsey, who signed a four-year, $23.5 million deal, has a salary of $2.572 million in 2018 and a salary of $3.634 million in 2019. Because the Jaguars typically remove offset language from top-10 rookie contracts (Jacksonville and the Rams are the only teams who do that), the ability to escape future guarantees has a bit more relevance than it otherwise would.
Of course, the chances of the Jaguars actually dumping Ramsey reside somewhere between slim and none; he’s already one of the best cornerbacks in the game, after only two NFL seasons. Indeed, before they’d cut him, the Jaguars would be able to trade him for something much more than a conditional seventh-round pick.
Still, the situation shows the value of the haggling in which Bears linebacker Roquan Smith currently is engaged. If Ramsey had been a bust, the Jaguars would now have a way to easily save more than $6 million.
UPDATE 10:40 a.m. ET: Per a league source, the Jaguars have informed Ramsey that his guarantees will not be voided based upon his suspension. Again, it’s not as if they were going to cut him.