According to Adam Schefter, the Patriots have been pushing hard to sign WR Calvin Ridley as a free agent.
However, they have stiff competition from the Jaguars, and Schefter says his sources believe Ridley would prefer to stay in Jacksonville with QB Trevor Lawrence.
Ridley has had a strong market but these two teams have emerged as the clear favorites, barring some sort of other plot twist.
The Patriots have deeper pockets than the Jaguars in terms of cap space this offseason, but Jacksonville has familiarity and a stable quarterback on its side.
Ridley, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Falcons back in 2018 out of Alabama. He played out the fourth year of his four-year, $10,900,732 contract that included a $6,007,804 signing bonus.
The Falcons exercised Ridley’s fifth-year option which was scheduled to cost Atlanta $11.116 million fully guaranteed in 2022. However, it was tolled a year following his suspension for gambling. The Jaguars acquired the deal as a part of their trade for Ridley at the deadline in 2022.
He’s set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
In 2023, Ridley appeared in 17 games for the Jaguars and caught 76 passes for 1,016 yards receiving and eight touchdowns.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2024 NFL Free Agents list.
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