Titans To Sign WR Calvin Ridley
After a Jaguars-Patriots duel formed in the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes, a mystery suitor revealed itself. The Titans are swooping in with a big offer to land the former first-round pick.
Ridley will commit to Tennessee on a four-year, $92MM deal, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. The Titans are giving Ridley $50MM fully guaranteed. A year after winning a lower-priced DeAndre Hopkins pursuit, Tennessee will pair him with Ridley.
This marks a windfall for Ridley, who will cash in despite missing the 2022 season due to a gambling suspension and leaving the Falcons early in the 2021 slate. After Atlanta traded Ridley to Jacksonville during his suspension, the former Alabama standout posted his second 1,000-yard year. Although the Jaguars wanted to retain Ridley, they may have stopped short of this price point.
As of Wednesday afternoon, however, the Titans checked in with the NFL’s most cap space. Ran Carthon‘s team carried $72MM before the Ridley agreement. While the Patriots and Jaguars both made offers, a stealth suitor may have topped them both. The Jags had been viewed as likely to retain Ridley, but they already have three veteran contracts at receiver (Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, Gabe Davis) and another at tight end (Evan Engram). Tennessee has Hopkins on a relatively low-cost accord, after beating out the Patriots in that race as well, giving the team a clearer path to pursue this year’s top free agent wideout. Indeed, in a piece written by Jeff Howe, Larry Holder, and Randy Mueller of The Athletic (subscription required), we learned that while the Jags’ and Pats’ offers were in the same ballpark, the Titans’ proposal was significantly higher.
At $23MM per year, Ridley checks in as the NFL’s ninth-highest-paid receiver; the $50MM guaranteed at signing, however, is the more important number. Only Tyreek Hill‘s 2022 Dolphins deal carried more locked in at signing. That illustrates where this market went and the aggressive pushes teams were making to bring in this market’s top receiver.
Ridley, 29, will also reunite with the Jaguars’ 2023 pass-game coordinator, Nick Holz, who landed the Titans’ OC job earlier this offseason. Holz was on-hand for a rather uneven Jaguars offensive season, with Press Taylor calling plays. Ridley, however, used the 2023 slate to rebound after effectively two years away. The 2018 first-round pick left the Falcons in October 2021, and while the team helped him find a desired trade destination — Ridley picked Jacksonville — money may well be talking for the Florida native.
PFR’s top 50 free agent ranks listed the Titans as a potential Ridley suitor — largely due to cap space and what has transpired since the A.J. Brown trade. The Titans have not seen Brown’s immediate replacement — 2022 first-rounder Treylon Burks — become a difference-maker. And less than two years after the ill-fated Brown move, the Titans ditched their GM (Jon Robinson) and HC (Mike Vrabel). The Titans were not offering Brown a deal in this ballpark; two years later, and with the cap exploding to $255.4MM, a new GM will sign off on this money for Ridley, whose career has been much rockier than the current Eagles WR1’s.
As Julio Jones‘ hamstring trouble — which helped lead the Falcons to trade him to the Titans the following year — produced a 2020 shutdown in Atlanta, his younger sidekick broke through. Ridley’s 90-catch, 1,374-yard, nine-TD season placed him on the All-Pro second team. Ridley said he played most of the 2020 season on a broken foot, but he was not informed of the break until June 2021. He underwent surgery, which was described as a minor procedure, but said he was not close to 100% by Week 1. This preceded Ridley leaving the Falcons, citing mental health reasons.
Ridley’s rookie contract tolled to 2023 due to the subsequent gambling ban, which will add more risk to this Titans bet. Although Ridley produced in spurts for the Jags in a 1,016-yard season, he will turn 30 before the 2024 season ends. Two of Ridley’s four 100-yard showings came against a struggling Titans team, though, and Carthon will place a big bet on Ridley having plenty left in the tank to help Levis. This contract will pair with Levis’ rookie deal, which runs through 2026.
Titans Rumors: Ridley, Gardner-Johnson, Dillard
The Titans have yearned for a No. 1 wide receiver since they traded away A.J. Brown. Literally since that exact moment, when they used the draft pick they acquired in that trade to draft Arkansas wide receiver Treylon Burks in the hopes that he would take over. They had also traded for former Rams wide receiver Robert Woods in hopes that he would return from injury to the form of his best years in Los Angeles.
When neither of those moves worked out quite how the wished, Tennessee signed DeAndre Hopkins. While Hopkins certainly gave them a season worthy of a WR1, it became clear that that was not quite enough, that the team still had to get better around Hopkins. Enter Calvin Ridley.
The list of free agent wide receivers this year is expansive, but it is anything but lucrative. Some of the top options like Gabriel Davis and Darnell Mooney had already signed and other top options like Mike Williams, Michael Thomas, and Odell Beckham Jr. came with their own caveats. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Titans brass was focused on a singular goal: landing the best wide receiver available.
With the options out there, they set their sights on Ridley and their focus narrowed. The team reportedly put themselves in position to land Ridley starting last night, keeping in constant contact with Ridley and company. Not wanting to allow for anyone else to obtain their treasure, they made their move, offering what they knew would be the best deal that any team might offer the 29-year-old receiver. The rest is history, they landed their man, and he will be donning Titans blue in 2024.
Here are a few other rumors coming out of Nashville:
- With the Titans looking to add a defensive back to the roster, following the loss of Kevin Byard after his trade midseason, the name C.J. Gardner-Johnson has come up, per Adam Caplan at Pro Football Network. The veteran safety has some familiarity with the staff playing one of the best seasons of his career under new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson when the two were both in Philadelphia. Gardner-Johnson missed nearly all of the 2023 campaign with a torn pectoral muscle, starting the first two games of the season and making a comeback for the playoffs, so he may even come at a slight discount.
- While retaining that their plans could change, Caplan also reports that the Titans are currently expected to retain veteran left tackle Andre Dillard, who just finished the first year of his three-year, $29MM contract. Dillard started 10 games last year and was forced to the bench for six others. $6MM of his $9MM base salary for 2024 became fully guaranteed today and he will carry a $10.68MM cap hit for the season. Cutting him now would only save $2.88MM of cap space while leaving $7.79MM of dead money, while designating him a post-June 1 release could clear up $6.47MM of cap space, leaving the team with only $4.2MM of dead money. If he is retained, he would be assumed to start at left tackle, leaving Nicholas Petit-Frere and Jaelyn Duncan to battle for the right tackle job.
Jaguars Likely To Re-Sign WR Calvin Ridley?
3:00pm: With the new league year starting, the second part of the Ridley trade is locked in. The Falcons will receive the Jaguars’ 2024 third-round pick (No. 79). Had Ridley re-signed earlier, Atlanta would have ended up with Jacksonville’s No. 48 selection. The Jags already sent the Falcons their fifth-round choice last year. Now, the team awaits word on if it will keep the wide receiver.
2:47pm: We are minutes from the 2024 league year, which matters significantly in this particular free agency pursuit. Only the Jaguars and Patriots have been closely connected to Ridley, and Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz labels this a two-horse race. Despite Ridley’s 2021 hiatus and 2022 gambling suspension, he is expected to land a big number in free agency.
Continuing to make it clear to their 2022 trade pickup they view him as a long-term option rather than a rental, the Jags can re-sign him after 3pm CT and only send a third-round pick to the Falcons. At this point, it appears Atlanta will not be in play to collect Jacksonville’s second-rounder.
11:07am: Calvin Ridley‘s free agency has presented one of the more complex markets in recent memory, with the 2022 Jaguars-Falcons trade significantly impacting its composition. As the Patriots try to poach the former first-round pick, the Jags are not giving up.
Despite the Jags having agreed to terms with Gabe Davis, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones notes they have made an offer to retain Ridley. This comes after a report indicated the Patriots have made an offer to Ridley, who looms as the top wideout available after Mike Evans, Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman Jr. did not end up hitting the market.
Ridley, 29, is the only one of PFR’s top 11 free agents not to have chosen a destination yet. A wink-wink agreement between Ridley and the Jags could conceivably be in place. If Jacksonville signs Ridley before 3pm CT today — the start of the 2024 league year — it goes down as an extension, meaning the team will send Atlanta its 2024 second-round pick. If Ridley re-signs with the Jags after 3pm, the Falcons will obtain the AFC South team’s third-rounder.
On that note, Jones adds the Jaguars are viewed as the more likely winner of these sweepstakes. The 2022 trade pickup is weighing the cost of living, and Florida’s lack of a state income tax has always represented an advantage against most other states housing NFL franchises. A Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native, Ridley also chose to be traded to the Jags in 2022; the Falcons discussed the 2018 first-round pick with several teams but worked with him to find an acceptable destination. Ridley having picked the Jags 17 months ago figures to matter now as well.
Ridley returning to Jacksonville would create a crowded receiver room. The Jags already featured an unusually constructed skill-position group, one that featured four players on either veteran contracts or a fifth-year option, in 2023. With Davis coming in, the team would seemingly need to move on from either Zay Jones or Christian Kirk to avoid the stranger scenario of five veteran deals — all north of $8MM per year — being allocated to pass catchers. With Kirk working as Trevor Lawrence‘s top target for most of his tenure, Jones may be the one on the chopping block. The slot player is due a $7MM base salary and is on the Jags’ cap at $10.75MM.
The Jags will need to backload Ridley’s contract or make more moves to clear cap space, as they hold just more than $5MM. The Patriots are in much better shape, sitting with nearly $60MM despite making several moves to retain their own UFAs. Ridley staying in Jacksonville would move the focus to other available wideouts — perhaps the Chargers’ Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, who have been connected to the Pats — as New England attempts to land a No. 1-caliber target.
Patriots Submit Offer To WR Calvin Ridley
The Patriots’ reported interest in receiver Calvin Ridley is very real. According to Josina Anderson, the Patriots have made an offer to the free agent wideout.
[RELATED: Patriots Pursuing Calvin Ridley]
The organization is also opting to “keep a deal on the table” following today’s reports that focused on the interesting logistics of the previous Jaguars/Falcons trade. If Jacksonville re-signs Ridley before 2pm tomorrow, they’ll owe Atlanta a second-round pick. If they wait beyond that deadline and re-sign the receiver, the Jaguars would only owe the Falcons a third-round pick.
This led some pundits to believe that Ridley was destined to return to Jacksonville and was simply biding his time to provide his organization with better draft capital. However, it sounds like the Patriots are still very much in the hunt, and it’ll be interesting to see how negotiations progress over the next 24 hours.
New England holds more than $80MM in cap space, and with Ridley sitting atop the WR market, it only made sense that the Patriots would target the free agent for their new-look offense. The team moved on from Mac Jones and added veteran Jacoby Brissett, and the organization appears to be leaning towards selecting a QB with the third-overall pick. Ridley would represent an intriguing target for whoever is under center for the Patriots in 2024 and beyond.
The Patriots’ receivers struggled in 2023, although that was partly due to the team’s inconsistent play at quarterback. The team has already moved on from DeVante Parker and is looking to unload JuJu Smith-Schuster, leaving plenty of question marks atop the depth chart. The team did agree to new deals with Kendrick Bourne and Jalen Reagor, but the rest of their depth chart features unproven options like Demario Douglas, Tyquan Thornton, and Kayshon Boutte.
Patriots Pursuing Calvin Ridley; Jaguars Still Aiming To Retain WR
MARCH 12: The Pats and Jags continue to pursue Ridley, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, who notes sources around the league point to a darkhorse team being in this mix. Another deep wideout draft class is likely affecting this year’s receiver market as well, though Darnell Mooney fetched a nice haul from the Falcons earlier today.
The Jags still being in this pursuit is interesting, with the team locking in Gabe Davis on Monday. Ridley coming back alongside Davis would point to the Jags, who also have Christian Kirk and Zay Jones under contract, changing up their current WR group.
MARCH 10: Wide receiver changes are expected in New England. After the team’s JuJu Smith-Schuster signing did not produce much of consequence last year, a bigger swing is anticipated once the legal tampering period begins Monday.
The Patriots are expected to pursue Calvin Ridley in free agency, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes. The cap-rich team is not known for big free agency spending, save for a few instances (largely 2021), but new faces are running the show. The Eliot Wolf-led operation appears to be aiming for a big upgrade around a to-be-determined starting quarterback.
[RELATED: 2024 Top 50 NFL Free Agents]
Jacksonville is expected to try and retain Ridley, but due to the structure of the trade with Atlanta in 2022, a pre-free agency strike has not been expected. If the Jaguars re-sign Ridley after he hits free agency, they will only owe the Falcons their 2024 third-round pick. If a deal becomes official before Ridley hits the market, Jacksonville owes Atlanta its second-rounder. The team already sent the Falcons a 2022 fifth in this two-pick trade.
With Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman Jr.. tagged and Mike Evans re-signing with the Buccaneers, Ridley looks to be the top free agent wideout available. The Patriots hold more than $82MM in cap space; only the Commanders are carrying more into the tampering period. New England re-signed Hunter Henry late this week, but its pass-catching corps still features questions.
The Pats gave Smith-Schuster a three-year, $25.5MM deal that included $16MM fully guaranteed. His $7MM base salary for 2024 is locked in. DeVante Parker, however, may be less likely to be on the 2024 Patriots. The team is expected to try to unload Parker’s contract in a trade, according to MassLive.com’s Karen Guregian, Chris Mason and Mark Daniels. It would save the Pats just more than $3MM by trading Parker, who has two seasons left on the extension he signed last year. The former Dolphins first-round pick has $3.1MM remaining in guarantees on that summer 2023 re-up.
While last year did not feature a good receiver environment in New England, Parker totaled only 394 receiving yards — third-most among Pats wideouts. Smith-Schuster managed just 260 in an injury-shortened season. Despite playing in only eight games, Kendrick Bourne finished with 406 receiving yards and four TDs. The Patriots are not closing the door on keeping Bourne on a second contract.
Bourne and the Pats are still talking, per CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson, who indicates the sides have not found an acceptable middle ground. Bourne, 28, is coming off an ACL tear. That said, the ex-49er appeared back in the team’s good graces after residing in the doghouse during a 2022 season in which he came up in trade rumors. Bourne, who totaled 800 receiving yards in Mac Jones‘ rookie season, played out a three-year, $15MM deal.
Jags In Talks With Calvin Ridley, Josh Allen
Trent Baalke said in January the Jaguars will have Josh Allen back on their 2024 team, pointing to a franchise tag as a mortal lock. The team is not closing up shop on reaching an extension with its top edge rusher just yet.
Stopping short of confirming the Jags will tag Allen, Baalke said the sides remain in talks. Given Allen’s contract-year surge that ended with a 17.5-sack season — a Jags single-year record — this might be a tricky negotiation that requires more time. The 2019 first-round pick had not previously eclipsed 10.5 sacks in a season. Allen is set to turn 27 in July.
The tag will allow the Jags until July 15 to reach a deal. They have used the tag each year in the 2020s, cuffing Yannick Ngakoue, Cam Robinson and Evan Engram. The team extended Robinson and Engram, after trading Ngakoue.
While Allen’s place on the 2024 Jags appears a near-certainty, Calvin Ridley is tied to unique contract conditions that complicate his future in Jacksonville. Already sending a 2023 fifth-round pick to the Falcons, the Jaguars would owe them an additional 2024 third if they were to let Ridley hit the market. If Ridley re-signs once there or departs, Jacksonville owes Atlanta its 2024 third. If the team views the wideout as a true priority and reaches what is technically an extension — a deal before the 2024 league year begins March 13 — the Jags would owe a second-rounder instead of a third.
It would seem the Jags would be better served by waiting out Ridley and protecting their second-rounder, but the team wants to retain the former first-round pick — regardless of how that comes to pass. Baalke and Ridley met one-on-one recently, and the team is set to talk with the veteran pass catcher’s camp at the Combine.
“We’re not real concerned with that, whether it’s a second or third round,” Baalke said of the second pick to be conveyed in the Falcons trade. “We’re just going to work with the player and see if we can come to an agreement. Whether that’s before the compensation changes or not, that remains to be seen. We’re more focused on the player.
“I had a great talk with Calvin, know exactly where he’s at and and he knows where we’re at.”
Thanks to the end-of-season collapse that left the Jaguars out of the playoffs, their second-round pick checks in 48th. Their third-rounder sits 79th. Barring a Ridley extension before 3pm CT on March 13, that pick will transfer to the Falcons. The Jags have a little more than $24MM in cap space; an Allen tag would account for all of that, as the cap spike moved the linebacker tag to $24MM.
If Ridley were to hit the market, however, the Jags will have likely intense competition. If the Colts follow through with a Michael Pittman Jr. tag, the absences of he and Tee Higgins on the market would boost Ridley’s value.
Do not look for the team to consider Cam Robinson‘s contract as one to move to create space. Baalke expects the team’s 2021 and ’22 franchise tag recipient to be back with the team. The longtime Jags left tackle is due a $16.25MM base salary and is set to carry a $21.19MM cap number. Another extension would reduce that cap charge, though it is unclear if that is the cards just yet for the 2017 second-round pick.
Robinson signed a three-year, $52.75MM extension in April 2022. Although the Dave Caldwell regime drafted Robinson and he was first tagged during Urban Meyer‘s offseason in charge, Baalke was at the helm when the Jags finalized the extension. Pro Football Focus graded Robinson, who missed much of last season due to a PED ban and a subsequent knee injury, 46th overall among tackles.
Jaguars Prepared To Use Franchise Tag On Josh Allen, Want To Retain Calvin Ridley
Although Josh Allen and Calvin Ridley‘s rookie deals began in different years, those five-year contracts will expire at the same time. Ridley’s 2022 gambling suspension changed his timetable, which puts his second NFL employer on the clock now. Both players are set for free agency, though the team would prefer neither reaches the market.
It appears fairly clear how the Jaguars will approach this decision, with a hierarchy forming early. Allen will be prioritized. GM Trent Baalke confirmed (via NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe) the five-year edge rusher will be a Jaguar next season. This would point to the Jags being prepared to use the franchise tag once again.
Jacksonville has used the tag in each of the past three years, keeping both Cam Robinson and Evan Engram off the market. They tagged Robinson twice. For Allen, a tag would cost nearly $22MM. Though, the recurring linebacker-or-defensive end debate would figure to come up here. Allen is nominally an outside linebacker but for all intents and purposes plays defensive end. This issue has come up for several teams in the past, as the linebacker tag — which groups on- and off-ball ‘backers together — is set to check in around $1.5MM below the DE number.
The Ravens reached a compromise with Matt Judon back in 2020; that could be relevant for the Jags and Allen, who played defensive end when the team used a 4-3 scheme. New DC Ryan Nielsen has used both 4-3 and 3-4 schemes during his time as a coordinator. Judon’s Ravens agreement notwithstanding, teams generally win these debates — should a grievance come from Allen’s side.
The Jags retaining Allen will be pivotal; the Kentucky alum broke through in a contract year. After hitting double digits in sacks once — as a rookie in 2019, with 10.5 — over his first four seasons, Allen registered 17.5 in 2023. This could not prevent a Jacksonville late-season collapse, but it undoubtedly made the former top-10 pick some money. Of course, this performance coming after three seasons in which Allen failed to surpass eight sacks also could lead to a “prove it” request from the team that leads to the tag once again coming out. That said, the Jags kept Allen out of trades at the 2022 deadline. The 26-year-old pass rusher will bring some leverage to extension talks, which Baalke confirms have not yet begun.
Ridley’s situation is more complicated. The Jags re-signing the 2018 first-round pick would determine what draft choice goes back to the Falcons. The Jags already sent the Falcons a 2023 fifth-round pick for Ridley, but the second choice is conditional depending on the Alabama alum’s future in north Florida. If the Jaguars re-sign Ridley, they would owe the Falcons a second-round pick.
“The sky’s the limit; he’s only going to get better because of the way he works,” Baalke said of Ridley. “When you love something as much as he loves football, you can’t help but get better. We would love to have Calvin back. We are going to work toward that. What that means is, I don’t know right now.”
Ridley’s age also could complicate matters for the Jags. He is already 29, being set to turn 30 during the 2024 season. Jacksonville also has Christian Kirk tied to an $18MM-per-year accord and Zay Jones on an $8MM-AAV pact. Engram’s 2023 tag led to a three-year, $41.25MM extension. While Trevor Lawrence remains on a rookie deal, he should be expected — despite an inconsistent season — to receive a mega-extension either in 2024 or 2025. A Ridley re-up would represent a significant commitment to the skill positions. Travis Etienne is also now extension-eligible.
The 2022 trade pickup did produce his second 1,000-yard season, accumulating 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns in 17 games. This came after Ridley missed the 2022 season and most of the 2021 campaign, the latter absence coming after the talented wideout cited mental health reasons for leaving the Falcons. Ridley re-established some momentum in 2023 and, after generating extensive trade interest in 2022, would be one of the top wideouts on the market, should the Jaguars not re-sign him before the legal tampering period.
Browns Attempted To Acquire Calvin Ridley In 2022
It took some moving parts for Amari Cooper to end up in Cleveland. In addition to the Cowboys determining his contract would no longer fit on their payroll, Cooper’s Browns arrival also looks to have been contingent on trade talks with the Falcons falling through.
Before the Browns turned their attention to Cooper in March 2022, they were one of the teams in on Calvin Ridley, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer. A Ridley-Eagles “what if?” also represents one of the wide receiver dominoes from a significant offseason in the position’s history; the Browns now loom here as well.
The Eagles nearly acquired Ridley before his suspension surfaced, but the Browns engaged with the Falcons on a deal as well. The team expected Chris Godwin and Mike Williams to be franchise-tagged, Breer adds. Only Godwin was, but Williams re-signed with the Chargers on a deal that matched Cooper’s 2020 terms (three years, $60MM) just before the 2022 free agency period. This took pieces off the table for the Browns, who were moving into position to trade for Deshaun Watson.
With Ridley off the board due to the suspension, the Browns landed Cooper at a much lower cost compared to what it took the Cowboys to pry him from the Raiders in 2018. The Cowboys, who sent the Raiders a first-round pick for Cooper in 2018, traded him to the Browns for a fifth-rounder and a swap of sixths. Other teams waited to see if the Cowboys would cut Cooper, per Breer, but his contract no longer looks particularly onerous. Jerry Jones said last year Cooper became unrealistic to retain, and the Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb on their extension radar. But the Browns have reaped considerable benefits from what amount to a flier on Cooper last year.
Upon breaking Josh Gordon‘s Browns single-game receiving record (with 265 yards), Cooper soared past his single-season career high Sunday. The ninth-year veteran is now at 1,250, which tops his previous career best of 1,160 — set with the 2022 Browns. Cooper, 29, now has seven 1,000-yard seasons in his career. For a team that has started four quarterbacks, the former top-five pick has been vital to it staying afloat in the playoff race.
The Browns did well to acquire Cooper before the receiver market exploded last year. His five-year, $100MM contract runs through 2024, and it began to look better after the run of receiver extensions that shaped the ’22 offseason. Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill raised the market’s ceiling, which still sits at $30MM per year, and the Eagles started the run on extensions for the 2019 class by giving A.J. Brown $25MM per year and a position-record $56.5MM fully guaranteed. After the likes of Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel and D.K. Metcalf signed, Cooper’s $20MM AAV dropped into a tie for 11th at the position. Cleveland has Cooper on a $23.8MM cap number in 2024. An extension, which would drop that figure, is likely on the AFC North team’s radar.
While the Browns and Eagles made their receiver moves during Ridley’s suspension, more clubs entered the Ridley mix before last year’s trade deadline. A few offers came the Falcons’ way, but after the team worked with the suspended wideout, he made his way to the Jaguars in a two-pick trade in which the compensation is not yet final.
The Jags sent a 2023 fifth-rounder and a conditional 2024 pick to the Falcons. That pick has already become a fourth, by virtue of Ridley making Jacksonville’s 53-man roster this year; it would rise to a second if the contract-year pass catcher signs an extension with the Jags. Ridley, 29, has produced an up-and-down season for the Jags, accumulating 871 yards. With Christian Kirk signed through 2025, it will be interesting to see if Jacksonville will be willing to part with a second-round pick by extending Ridley.
Falcons Clinch 2024 Fourth-Round Pick In Calvin Ridley Trade
Last November, in the midst of wide receiver Calvin Ridley‘s year-long gambling suspension, the Falcons traded Ridley to the Jaguars in exchange for a two-pick package comprised of one 2023 and one 2024 selection. As Ridley was reinstated prior to this year’s draft, Atlanta received Jacksonville’s 2023 fifth-round choice, which it subsequently flipped to the Lions in exchange for cornerback Jeff Okudah.
The 2024 selection was originally reported as a conditional fourth-rounder, and the Falcons have clinched at least that level of compensation given that Ridley was on the Jaguars’ 53-man roster after last month’s cutdown day and subsequently suited up for the team’s Week 1 contest against the Colts. However, the pot could continue to get sweeter for Atlanta.
As ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports, the fourth-round pick will become a third-rounder if Ridley plays at least 60% of the Jaguars’ offensive snaps or records either 75 receptions or 1,000 receiving yards. The Falcons will receive a second-round pick if Ridley — who is presently playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, which tolled to 2023 due to his suspension — signs an extension with Jacksonville.
Schefter notes that contract talks between Ridley and the Jags will not commence until the end of the season, so it will be a while before we know whether the Falcons will end up with a second-round choice. However, Ridley recorded eight catches (on 11 targets) for 101 yards and a score in his Jacksonville debut, so as long as he stays healthy, it seems he will have an excellent shot at securing at least a 2024 third-round pick for his former club.
The Jags are presumably content to pay that price as long as Ridley continues to perform at a high level. In his last full season in 2020, the former first-rounder set career-highs in catches (90) and receiving yards (1,374), and he makes an already-talented Jacksonville offense even more formidable.
A healthy and productive season will allow Ridley to take advantage of a booming wide receiver market in 2024, whether he re-signs with the Jags or finds a more lucrative deal elsewhere.
Several Teams Sent Falcons Calvin Ridley Trade Offers
Attempting to complete a bounce-back effort after a season-long gambling suspension, Calvin Ridley will do so in a preferred landing spot. The Falcons sent Ridley to the Jaguars and worked with the former first-round pick to find an acceptable trade partner.
The Falcons traded Ridley to the Jags for a two-pick package that will hinge on how the veteran wide receiver’s Jacksonville tenure goes. The Jags, however, received offers from “six or seven” teams in total, Dan Pompei of The Athletic reports (subscription required). While the Eagles and Falcons were close to a trade before Ridley’s gambling ban surfaced, it appears a number of non-Jaguars suitors were still interested midway through the suspension.
[RELATED: Assessing Jaguars’ 2023 Offseason]
“I think it’s a perfect spot for me,” Ridley said, via Pompei. “I had an opportunity to choose from a bunch of different teams, and that’s why I chose this one. I felt like it was Florida, back home. I liked the roster a lot — Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, Evan Engram, [Travis] Etienne, Trevor [Lawrence], [Jamal] Agnew. I love the roster.
“I also thought they have a great chance to go far, and I want to be a part of that. I came from Alabama. I’m about winning. I’m not a cheater. I’m about winning games. I want to go to the playoffs, and obviously I want to go to the Super Bowl and win. I think this organization has what it takes to do that.”
A national champion in college, Ridley has not played in a playoff game since the Falcons chose him in the 2018 first round. The Jaguars snapped a playoff drought last season, winning the AFC South. After franchise-tagging and then extending Engram, they now have four skill-position players signed to deals worth at least $8MM per year. Ridley, 28, is tied to an $11.1MM fifth-year option salary.
It should be assumed none of the other offers were outside the Jags’ value range, as Ridley’s rookie contract obviously did not contain a no-trade clause. The Jags and Falcons had discussed the deal for months. A Florida native, Ridley also agreed on Jacksonville when the team stood just 2-6. His early vision of a rosier Jags outlook has aged well, with the Jags favored to win the AFC South again.
The Jags’ coaching staff eased Ridley back into action during the offseason program, as the recent trade get has not played consecutive games since September 2021. If the team extends or re-signs Ridley before the 2024 draft, it owes Atlanta a second-round pick in addition to the 2023 fifth-rounder it already sent over in the uniquely structured trade. Ridley meeting performance- and participation-based thresholds but not re-signing in Jacksonville would move the pick to the third-round level. Appearing on the Jags’ 53-man roster this year but not hitting the benchmarks or re-signing would see a fourth-rounder transfer to the Falcons.