It appears star cornerback Jalen Ramsey’s time as a Miami Dolphin could be coming to an end.

The Dolphins and Ramsey have mutually agreed to explore trade options, general manager Chris Grier said Tuesday at his scheduled pre-draft news conference. Grier said Ramsey didn’t request a trade but the decision was made after “numerous conversations” between both sides.

“We decided it was probably in the best interest for all parties to move forward,” Grier said.

He also said that the team was not looking to trade star wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

“That is not anything that we’re pursuing, (but) like I said, who knows, if someone wants to come and give me two first-round picks, then we’d consider it,” Grier said. “But as of right now, it’s not something we’re considering.”

The Dolphins extended Ramsey’s contract this spring. Spotrac reported his deal has $91.8 million remaining over four years.

Ramsey, 30, came to Miami in March 2023 in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams for a third-round pick and tight end Hunter Long. Ramsey missed the first seven games that season with a knee injury, but he still made the Pro Bowl for the seventh time. He started all 17 games in 2024.

Ramsey is guaranteed $25.1 million in 2025, but a new team would only owe him $21.1 million since the Dolphins have already paid his $4 million roster bonus.

A firm deadline for a deal does not exist, NFL Network reported Tuesday, but Miami is motivated to get something done before the 2025 NFL Draft begins on April 24. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and Grier could use the draft to shore up their ranks at cornerback. Miami holds the No. 13 overall pick and nine other selections.

–Field Level Media

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison didn’t back down on his decision to trade star guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, a move that sparked outrage among the team’s fanbase.

The Lakers officially acquired Doncic on Feb. 2 for perennial All-Star forward Anthony Davis in a deal that also sent Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick to Dallas and Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to Los Angeles.

“Yeah, there’s no regrets on the trade,” Harrison said on Tuesday, per the Dallas Morning News. “Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future. Some of the decisions I’m going to make are going to be unpopular. And that’s my job and I have to stand by it.”

Harrison was speaking to reporters for the second time since the trade — however, reportedly with one caveat. Cameras and audio recording devices were not permitted, per The Stein Line.

Harrison, 52, also addressed calls from members of the fanbase for majority shareholder Miriam Adelson and team governor Patrick Dumont to fire him.

“Well, the beauty of Dallas is it is a passionate fanbase,” Harrison said. “For us to reach our goals, we need that fanbase. And to be honest with you, every trade I’ve made since I’ve been here has not been regarded as a good trade. So sometimes it takes time.

“When I traded for Kyrie (Irving), it was met with a lot of skepticism and it was graded as a terrible trade. You didn’t see it right away, but eventually everyone agreed that it was a great trade. When I traded for (Daniel Gaffney and (P.J. Washington), it was like, ‘Oh, he gave up way too much.’ These guys are going to help us. Now that trade, you saw the evidence a lot sooner.

“So I think a lot of times, trades take a little bit of time but our philosophy going forward is defense wins championships, and we’re built on defense. This trade cements us for that.”

The Mavericks limped to a 39-43 record and the 10th seed in the Western Conference. They will visit the Sacramento Kings in a Western Conference play-in game on Wednesday.

Led by Doncic, the Lakers secured the third seed in the conference.

–Field Level Media

If you were looking for the new brass of the Jacksonville Jaguars at on-campus pro days or pondering which prospects came to town for “top 30” face-to-face visits, here’s the short answer to those questions: They weren’t there.

As a new direction takes shape in Jacksonville with first-timers in the general manager and head coach seats for the 2025 NFL Draft, most commonly held beliefs and traditional protocol for draft preparation and player acquisition won’t make the cut.

Very few have insight into where the surprising unique turns at the direction of James Gladstone, Jacksonville’s 34-year-old general manager hired to replace Trent Baalke, might lead in the draft or beyond.

“It’s still familiar territory. You’re talking football,” Gladstone said Tuesday. “My mind remains rooted in a lot of the same things it always has been — focusing with intention on intangibly rich human beings and allow that to be our north star.”

Gladstone and 39-year-old head coach Liam Coen, who was offensive coordinator the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, are charting their own decidedly new-school course to resurrect a franchise with 58 losses the past five seasons.

Gladstone, a member of the Rams’ front office and scouting staff the past nine years, has a degree in education and held sway in Los Angeles with a title of director of scouting strategy the past three years.

That strategy is unlike any other in the NFL.

He punted the in-person, on-site “top 30” visits with draft prospects, downplaying the importance stressed by other franchise scouting operations — additional face time with a player, private on-field workouts, follow-up or extension to conversations at the NFL Scouting Combine or Senior Bowl — with the belief the time is less vital than the biblical biography his scouting staff has on hundreds of players, literature and insight on each prospect gleaned over multiple years.

“There’s a lot of layers to not doing those facility visits,” Gladstone said. “That goes back awhile for me and my experience. Let’s take it this direction: the implicit bias that can come to life this late in the process. The last player you might sit down with and how that might differ from the first player you sit down with knowing that it’s closer to the decision that’s upcoming.”

Right down to the cadence of his speech and use of data as part of a brain-driven approach, Gladstone borrowed from the vocabulary and approach of his mentor, Rams GM Les Snead, in touching on reasoning for avoiding traditional draft preparation metrics and protocol to prepare and get to know prospects.

For example, the Jaguars use player-tracking data to determine on-field speed and all but dismiss coveted NFL Scouting Combine numbers like the 40-yard dash. Gladstone doesn’t attend pro days.

He’s willing to listen to input from scouts and coaches who have gleaned a scouting opinion from those workouts, but instead falls back on a more “global” collection of data and “sourced” information from a player’s peers, friends, family, teammates and coaches.

Gladstone admitted he embraces the reality that his first pick will send a message and “set the tone” for who the Jaguars want to be as a team.

He said the sourced intel his scouting staff gathered from “those who have lived with these individuals” is likely to be more accurate than any assessment he might be able to glean from a short visit. He also feels the inevitable leak of information identifying prospects who visit a team can often expose strategic plan and direction.

Coen said the Jaguars are definitely looking for pass rushers who can “burn an edge” but stressed adaptability as he becomes more acclimated in his new role.

“Just having a larger appreciation for every position on the grass,” Coen said. “That’s been excited to learn more about from James, from coaches, and seeing their vision for these players.”

–Field Level Media