Report: Rams, Jalen Ramsey ‘are not close’ to extension

According to ESPN, the Rams and Jalen Ramsey are “not close” to signing an extension.

Jalen Ramsey has been asked countless times about his contract extension, to the point where he got so frustrated with the repeated questions that he walked out of a press conference with reporters. It’s not that he’s stressed about getting a deal done with the Rams, nor does the team seem worried about the situation, but he’d simply rather focus on football than his finances.

The Rams have been in contact with Ramsey’s agent and have expressed confidence a deal will get done, but ESPN’s Josina Anderson reported some bad news Friday. According to her source, the two sides “are not close” on an extension, but noted that it’s “still early.”

Ramsey is in the final year of his contract and will become a free agent in March if a deal isn’t signed beforehand, but he doesn’t seem concerned at all. He didn’t hold out this year and has been playing some great football in practice, which gives Sean McVay reason to believe the contract talks won’t impact his star cornerback on the field.

“I think those are things that we’re working through,” McVay said this week. “He’s got a great agent that has been really good to work with. Obviously, Jalen is focused on playing football. Those are things that we’re trying to handle kind of behind the scenes if you will. But the one thing I think we all know is, Jalen is so refreshingly secure in himself and confident that it would be great if it gets done, but also, you know this guy’s not going to be distracted by whether it is or isn’t done. He’s going to go out and try to continue to demonstrate why he’s one of the best in the league at what he does.”

The franchise tag is an option for Los Angeles next offseason, but that would do nothing to help the team’s relationship with Ramsey, likely leading to a holdout in 2021.