Atlanta Falcons trade suspended wideout Calvin Ridley to the Jacksonville Jaguars
The NFL trade deadline has already featured some big-time names being sent or acquired. However, one of the most recent moves is highlighted by a name that those who follow the league hadn’t seen much of this season. Calvin Ridley, the suspended wideout for the Atlanta Falcons, is on his way to join the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Atlanta will send Ridley to Jacksonville for draft compensation. That compensation could look very different based on Ridley’s status moving forward. Since he is currently suspended, the Falcons have added some complicated conditions to the potential draft picks that they’re getting in return.
If the NFL reinstates Ridley a certain date, the deal will be for a 2023 fifth round pick. No reinstation from the league would make it a sixth-round pick in 2023. Ridley making the roster next season would upgrade next season’s compensation to a fourth-round pick. Meeting a play-time requirement would make it a third-round pick. Any form of a long-term deal would improve it all the way up to a second-round selection.
Again, it’s a very complicated set of terms between the Falcons and the Jaguars for Ridley. The maximum compensation, though, will be a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick.
Atlanta drafted Ridley in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Alabama. As they moved on from stars like Julio Jones, Ridley was supposed to step in as Atlanta’s new No. 1 receiver. He showed potential for that with 248 catches, 3,342 receiving yards, and 28 touchdowns over his first four seasons.
However, after appearing in only five games in 2021, the NFL suspended him for a year back in March for gambling on NFL games. That included gambling on matchups that featured his own team. With that decision on Ridley still active, Atlanta has now decided it was best to part ways with him and has sent him to Jacksonville.
If or when he returns, Ridley could be a great piece for the Jaguars alongside Trevor Lawrence. The first step of that, though, is reinstation with no timetable on when that could officially happen.