Calvin Ridley

Browns Attempted To Acquire Calvin Ridley In 2022

December 26th, 2023 at 9:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

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

September 17th, 2023 at 10:10am CST by Rory Parks

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

July 27th, 2023 at 2:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

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.

“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.

Latest On Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley

June 3rd, 2023 at 11:34am CST by Ben Levine

Calvin Ridley hasn’t seen the field since the beginning of the 2021 campaign. Now playing in Jacksonville, the Jaguars intend to bring Ridley along slowly as he prepares for his return. Jaguars coach Doug Pederson told reporters that the team is being careful with Ridley and is limiting him during OTAs, per ESPN’s Michael DiRocco (on Twitter).

Pederson noted that there’s been no signs of rust on the wideout. Ridley is expected to be back to a full workload by the time training camp comes around.

“He’s done an outstanding job for us,” Pederson said (via the team’s website). “He’s picking up the offense. The times that he’s working with Trevor [Lawrence], they’re on the same page, they’re connecting.

“He wants to go so much and so fast and so hard out there at practice that we just have to pump the brakes and just tell him, ‘Hey, now’s not the time.’ He hasn’t played in a while, plus the injury, so we’re just trying to be careful with him.”

Ridley earned a second-team All-Pro nod with the Falcons in 2020 after finishing with 90 catches for 1,374 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. The wideout later revealed he played most of that season with a broken foot, and after starting each of the first five games of the 2021 campaign, Ridley announced that he was stepping away from football for mental health reasons. It was later announced that Ridley would be suspended for the entire 2022 campaign for gambling on games.

The receiver was traded to the Jaguars in November, and he was reinstated from his suspension in March. He’ll be joining a receivers room that also includes Christian Kirk and Zay Jones. The Jaguars can lean on those top two wideouts while Ridley prepares for his first full season since 2020.

“I have to gradually get my body back to football and be peaking going into the season – not out here [in OTAs],” Ridley said (via the team’s website). “I’m kind of picking it up a little bit, just trying to get myself the reps I could get. But they just want me to slowly build towards the season.

“Of course, I expect I would be a little rusty because you can’t really get ready for this. Just running every day is what really causes you get sore. I just have to make sure I build and not be sore in the season.”

WR Notes: Hopkins, Cardinals, Chiefs, Ridley, Browns, Slayton, Texans, Dolphins

March 21st, 2023 at 4:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Brandin Cooks trade domino dropped Sunday morning, leaving DeAndre Hopkins as the only clear-cut impact receiver trade chip available. The Cardinals continue to shop the 11th-year veteran, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes talks are ramping up (Twitter link). Hopkins is amenable to adjusting his contract to facilitate a deal, and Rapoport adds an adjusted contract is likely. As is, Hopkins’ through-2024 contract calls for a $19.45MM base salary this season. That will likely be untenable to interested teams.

As far as interested parties go, the Chiefs are viewed as a team angling to acquire a veteran. Whether it is Hopkins or Odell Beckham Jr., veteran NFL reporter Mike Jurecki adds (on Twitter) Kansas City is on the market for an addition. With JuJu Smith-Schuster signing with the Patriots, it is unsurprising the defending champions are interested in upgrading. Mecole Hardman remains a free agent, and while the Chiefs were expected to move on from the speedster, his price range may have dropped considering his extended stay in free agency. Patrick Mahomes‘ restructure created $9.6MM in cap space for the Chiefs, though they sit at just more than $9MM as of Tuesday.

Staying on the Hopkins front, here is the latest from the receiver scene:

The Browns are not believed to be interested in reuniting Hopkins with Deshaun Watson, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports tweets. Cleveland has a big contract at receiver (Amari Cooper‘s) already, though the team could benefit from a veteran presence alongside its No. 1 target. The Browns did host Marquise Goodwin on a visit that has spanned from Monday to today, Anderson adds (on Twitter). Goodwin spent last season with the Seahawks, catching 27 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. The former Olympic long jumper is going into his age-33 season.
Darius Slayton is back with the Giants, re-signing on a two-year deal worth $12MM. That contract includes $4.9MM guaranteed, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan tweets. This can be treated more like a one-year deal; the Giants can save $6MM by cutting Slayton in 2024. That said, Slayton said (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) he received other offers in free agency. The Giants, despite burying him on their initial 2022 depth chart and cutting his pay, reached out early and will have the former fifth-round pick back in the fold. The team’s improvement last season helped convince Slayton to stay.
A year after he signed for the exact terms Slayton reached (with the Jets), Braxton Berrios is now in Miami. The ex-Hurricanes receiver agreed to terms with the Dolphins on what KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes is a one-year, $3.5MM pact (Twitter link). Berrios will receive $3MM guaranteed, giving him a good chance of being part of the Dolphins’ 53-man roster. The Dolphins still have Cedrick Wilson and brought back River Cracraft and Freddie Swain last week.
Noah Brown‘s one-year Texans deal is worth $2.6MM, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The longtime Cowboys wideout received $2.25MM guaranteed and can add an additional $500K through incentives.
Addressing his season-long gambling suspension recently, Calvin Ridley said he deposited $1,500 into an unspecified betting app and, after making approximately $200 worth of NBA bets, he included the Falcons in a parlay. Denying he had inside information, Ridley said (via a piece on The Players’ Tribune) he had been away from the Falcons for a month, was not talking to anyone on the team and made the bet to root for his teammates. Regarding Ridley’s midseason Falcons exit in 2021, the former first-round pick said he was dealing with depression and anxiety. Ridley said he played most of the 2020 season (a career-high 1,374-yard slate) 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 and Ridley’s house being robbed on that Week 1 Sunday intensified his anxiety. The NFL reinstated Ridley, now with the Jaguars, earlier this month.

NFL Reinstates WR Calvin Ridley

March 6th, 2023 at 2:31pm CST by Adam La Rose

On the first day he was eligible to do so, Calvin Ridley applied for reinstatement to the NFL. On Monday, the league announced that the Jaguars receiver has been reinstated, meaning he is clear to participate in all offseason team activities.

The 28-year-old was suspended for the full 2022 campaign after he was found to have bet on NFL games the previous year. That marked a controversial end to his Falcons tenure, which spanned the first four seasons of his career. The former first-rounder was set to play on his fifth-year option ($11.12MM) in 2022, but will earn that amount this coming season in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars acquired Ridley at the trade deadline despite the uncertainty surrounding his future. The Falcons will receive Jacksonville’s fifth-round pick this year since Ridley has been reinstated. Atlanta is also in line for at least the Jaguars’ fourth-rounder in 2024, though that pick could become a third- or even second-rounder, depending on if the Alabama product signs a new deal to remain in Duval County.

That remains a distinct possibility, given the potential Ridley showed in the 2020 season in particular. He posted 90 catches for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns that season, though things took a significant turn one year later. Ridley took a leave of absence from the Falcons midway through the 2021 campaign, citing mental heath reasons. That limited him to just five games played, and thus a lengthy layoff until his Jaguars debut, even if that comes in Week 1 of the 2023 season.

Presuming that takes place, though, the AFC South champions will have another notable pass-catching option available for third-year QB Trevor Lawrence. The team signed Christian Kirk to a deal which raised plenty of eyebrows at the time, though the ex-Cardinal posted 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns this year. Jacksonville will also have tight end Evan Engram in the fold for at least the 2023 season via the franchise tag. Ridley will join them as he looks to help the Jaguars build off of last season’s success, and get his career back on track.

In a statement, Ridley said, “Today’s reinstatement by the NFL brings an end to a challenging chapter of my professional career, one that was self-inflicted and began with an isolated lapse in judgement. I have always owned my mistakes and this is no different.

“I have great respect for the game and am excited for the opportunity to restart my career in Jacksonville. I look forward to showing my new coaches, teammates, and the entire Jaguars organization exactly who I am and what I represent as a player and person.”

Calvin Ridley Applies For Reinstatement

February 15th, 2023 at 11:37am CST by Sam Robinson

Moved to the Jaguars just before the 2022 trade deadline, Calvin Ridley will attempt to make his way back into the NFL. Ridley’s gambling suspension sidelined him last season, and the former first-round pick must apply for reinstatement to return.

Wednesday marks the first day Ridley could apply to be reinstated, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports the embattled wide receiver did just that (Twitter link). The Jags acquired Ridley from the Falcons for a package that hinges on his availability and potential second contract.

The league handed Ridley the suspension after an investigation concluded he bet on NFL games during a short period in November 2021. Ridley is on the short list of players to be banned for gambling — one that includes Hall of Famers Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, and former top-five QB pick Art Schlichter — but upon making the trade, the Jags received assurances he would be ready to play in 2023.

Ridley, 28, has been out longer than his suspension duration. The former 1,000-yard receiver left the Falcons abruptly midway through the 2021 season, citing mental health issues. Ridley last played on Oct. 24, 2021. The Jags still took him off the Falcons’ payroll, adding a four-year starter to a receiving corps that looks a bit more promising after the results of last season.

Jacksonville signed Christian Kirk to a four-year, $72MM contract — a deal that became more reasonable after the receiver market’s boom over the next few months — and gave Zay Jones a three-year, $24MM deal. Ridley is still tied to his rookie contract, which calls for an $11.12MM fifth-year option in 2023. That option is now the Jags’ responsibility. The Jags now have a reasonable path to a 2023 pass-catching corps featuring Kirk, Jones, Ridley and tight end Evan Engram, whom they want to re-sign.

Once the NFL rules on Ridley, a path to him practicing with his new team will come into focus. Ridley teamed with Julio Jones for three seasons in Atlanta but emerged as the Falcons’ top target when Jones went down with a hamstring injury in 2020. Ridley, who caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards that season, totaled 28 career touchdown receptions prior to his 2021 hiatus. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native has regularly been training on his own ahead of his next opportunity.

Jaguars Assured Calvin Ridley Will Be Ready To Play In 2023

November 8th, 2022 at 3:26pm CST by Sam Robinson

Emerging as a flurry of pre-deadline trades occurred, the Jaguars’ decision to acquire Calvin Ridley is a bet on the wide receiver recapturing his 2020 form and giving Trevor Lawrence a high-end target next season. The team must go on faith its newly acquired wide receiver will be reinstated and be ready to play in 2023; the Jags are confident both of these components will break their way.

The Jaguars cannot contact Ridley until the NFL reinstates him, and even before the former Falcons wideout’s gambling suspension surfaced, he left the team midway through the 2021 season due to mental health issues. The Jaguars have received assurances Ridley will be ready to play in 2023, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com notes.

Ridley, 27, is training regularly on his own, Schefter adds, and Ridley’s Twitter feed suggests excitement about the Florida move. The former first-round pick is not eligible for reinstatement until after Super Bowl LVII.

The Jags are quite confident Ridley can help them, having discussed this trade for months. They are the only known team to have pursued Ridley since the gambling suspension. The Eagles were close to acquiring him ahead of that news dropping. Instead, ex-Eagles HC Doug Pederson will have a chance to oversee Ridley’s fifth NFL season.

“I don’t think [the long layoff] is a concern,” Pederson said, via ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco. “For the player, I think you look at it as a possible fresh start. Kind of rejuvenated much like myself. Energy level will be high, a new team, coming back to Florida, all those. It’s just a matter of once he is cleared by the league, getting him in here when we can and getting him caught up.”

Jacksonville agreed to a layered trade structure with Atlanta. Two picks will be exchanged for Ridley, though it could take until 2024 to determine the full haul. If Ridley is not reinstated before the 2023 draft, Peter King of NBC Sports notes the Jags will send the Falcons their 2023 sixth-round pick. If he is reinstated before that point, the Falcons will receive the Jags’ fifth-rounder next year. The 2024 choice — which could range from a second-rounder to a fourth — is more complicated.

If Ridley is eligible to play in 2023, the Jaguars will take on all of his $11.1MM fifth-year option salary. Ridley was set to play out that option year in 2022, but the gambling ban led to the deal tolling. Ridley being on Jacksonville’s 53-man roster after cutdown day means the Jags owe the Falcons a 2024 fourth-rounder, King adds. Unspecified performance- and usage-based incentives would take the price to a third. The Jags signing Ridley to a second contract would mean a second-round pick goes to the Falcons.

It is unknown if there is a firm date in which such an extension must occur, but if Ridley re-signs before the 2024 draft, the Falcons collect a second-rounder from the Jags. A reinstatement will make Ridley eligible for free agency in March 2024. This unusual clause and Ridley’s age makes a rental scenario somewhat realistic. The Alabama alum will turn 29 before next season ends. Chosen in the same draft as Ridley, Christian Kirk is two years younger. A franchise tag would presumably count as a second contract under this unusual formula, so the prospect of a tag-and-trade transaction is unlikely.

Ridley has excelled when on the field. He produced back-to-back 800-yard seasons to start his career and tallied 1,374 yards in 2020. Jacksonville has seen just one 1,000-yard receiving — DJ Chark (1,002 yards) in 2019 — since both Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns accomplished the feat in 2015. The Jags seeing Ridley return to his pre-hiatus form would give Lawrence a boost and provide Kirk with a better complement compared to the team’s current situation. Zay Jones is under contract through 2024; Marvin Jones‘ deal expires after this season.

Ridley’s path will be a key storyline to follow over the next year and change. If Ridley does re-sign with the Jaguars, it will mean the Falcons will have collected AFC South teams’ second-rounders for both he and Julio Jones.

Falcons, Jaguars Discussed Calvin Ridley Trade For Months

November 6th, 2022 at 8:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

The trade which sent Calvin Ridley from Atlanta to Jacksonville this past Tuesday caught many around the NFL off guard. With the suspended wideout ineligible to play this season, the timing of the deal came as a surprise, but the teams had been in talks regarding a swap dating back months.

As detailed by ESPN’s Michael Rothstein, Jacksonville identified Ridley as a potential target during this past offseason. The Jaguars entered the spring with a new head coach in Doug Pederson, and a need to add at the skill positions around second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence. That resulted, most notably, in the high-priced free agent addition of Christian Kirk, but the possibility of acquiring Ridley was a topic of conversation.

“These discussions have been ongoing for a long time and everything we do here, we understand there’s a lot of parties involved in it,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “[There’s] a cause and effect in a tough business and [we] always do everything in the best interest of the team and in regards to the players we got.”

The Jaguars certainly weren’t the only interested party in Ridley. It became known days after the 27-year-old was issued a year-long gambling suspension in March that Philadelphia almost completed a deal to acquire him. That near-trade demonstrated Atlanta’s willingness to part ways with the 2018 first-rounder, whose final Falcons season ended after he stepped away from the team for mental health reasons.

As Rothstein notes, the effect Ridley’s suspension had on his contract likely played a part in the Falcons being able to move him. The Alabama product is due $11.1MM on the fifth-year option in 2023 (assuming he is reinstated in time to play next season). That final year of his rookie deal tolled as a result of the suspension, but the figure is also no longer guaranteed. Atlanta has made a number of cost-cutting moves this year, including the deals sending away quarterback Matt Ryan and linebacker Deion Jones. Clearing Ridley’s 2023 cap hit will give the team some added financial flexibility as they pivot to first-round rookie Drake London to lead their WR room, while closing the book on Ridley’s time in Atlanta.

“This wasn’t something that happened at the trade deadline,” Smith further explained. “It was a long process. So leave it at that.”

Falcons To Trade WR Calvin Ridley To Jags

November 1st, 2022 at 2:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Jaguars are making a bet for the future. Despite Calvin Ridley serving a full-season suspension, he is changing teams. The Falcons are sending the former first-round wideout to the Jags, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

The sides are still determining a final compensation package, but the trade has been agreed upon. Jacksonville will send Atlanta a package that will max out with a 2023 fifth-rounder and a 2024 second. The latter part of the Falcons’ haul is classified as a conditional 2024 fourth, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Ridley’s Jacksonville performance and duration will impact the trade value. If Ridley plays for the Jags in 2023, the conditional fourth-rounder must be conveyed. If he hits certain performance thresholds, the Falcons will receive a 2024 third. The pick upgrades to a second if the Jags extend Ridley, per Schefter, adding an intriguing variable into one of the more unusual trades in recent memory (Twitter link).

Atlanta was on the verge of trading Ridley to Philadelphia earlier this year, but the impending gambling suspension nixed it. Now, the Jags are parting with two picks for a player who cannot play for them until next season.

While unexpected, this is an intriguing swap. The Jags are 2-6 and may not have a true complement for Christian Kirk. Ridley stands to fill that role next year, though he is neither a sure thing nor signed long term. Ridley’s contract tolled to 2023, due to the suspension, but he is set to play on a fifth-year option salary ($11.12MM). The Jags will still attempt to see how he looks with Trevor Lawrence.

A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native, Ridley is on the older end for a 2018 draftee as well. The 6-foot-1 pass catcher will be 29 before his first Jaguars season ends. The Jags will still provide a landing spot for the embattled pass catcher, who did not finish the 2021 season with the Falcons. Ridley left the team for personal reasons midway through the year. With that preceding his gambling ban, it is fairly surprising a team is willing to trade for him. Ridley must wait until February 2023 to apply for reinstatement.

When available in Atlanta, Ridley looked like one of the NFL’s top young receivers. The ex-Julio Jones sidekick posted back-to-back 800-plus-yard seasons with Matt Ryan in 2018 and ’19 and broke through in 2020, hauling in 90 passes for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns. That came during a season in which Jones’ hamstring trouble began to become a regular issue, leading to Ridley’s rise into Ryan’s top weapon. Not too much time has passed since that point, but the Falcons have completely closed the book on this period.

Atlanta has now traded Jones, Ryan and Ridley within a 17-month span. The team also let Thomas Dimitroff-era draftee Russell Gage sign with Tampa Bay. The Falcons still roster Olamide Zaccheaus from the previous era but now have a new quarterback and new top playmakers. GM Terry Fontenot chose Kyle Pitts and Drake London in the top 10 over the past two years. The Falcons will sink or swim with those rookie-contract performers catching passes, though the team is using a run-oriented attack with Marcus Mariota presently.

The Jaguars gave Kirk a four-year, $72MM deal but also signed Zay Jones to a three-year, $24MM accord this offseason. The team has 2021 free agency addition Marvin Jones playing out his contract. Kirk still resides atop Jacksonville’s long-term aerial pecking order, but the Jags have made an interesting splash to see if it can land a high-end supplementary piece in Ridley. Between Kirk and Ridley, the latter’s 2020 season represents the only 1,000-yard showing. It remains to be seen if the 2018 first-rounder can show that form again.

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