The New York Jets appear to be focusing on their free agent target this offseason.
Connor Hughes of SNY went on “The Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata Show” and claimed that Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley would sign with the Jets this offseason.
“I think it’s going to be Calvin Ridley, and I’m going to go a little wild. “The Jets are pretty high on him,” Hughes stated on WFAN. “Calvin Ridley was a man that was moved from the Falcons, and the Jets were all over it. They adored him, called him, were interested in him, and wanted to make a deal.”
Now that is a very JUICY #Jets insider nugget: @Connor_J_Hughes predicted that Calvin Ridley will be starting at WR next season alongside @GarrettWilson_V with NYJ 👀
‘When he was being traded from the #Falcons, the Jets were all over it. They loved him. They made calls. They… pic.twitter.com/WRh1LENsxd
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) January 27, 2024
Ridley is expected to sign a four-year contract worth $68.2 million in free agency, according to Spotrac’s estimated market value. According to Over The Cap, his annual compensation of $17 million would place him as the 14th highest-paid wide receiver in football.
Hughes claimed that the Jets expressed interest in Ridley during the 2022 summer, before he was “suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games.”
“I remember talking to people over at the Jets and they were like ‘I don’t think he’s [Ridley] available like we want him, we think he’s available,'” Hughes told ESPN. “They completed all of their research and checked every box [about his previous concerns]. The problem with him is that when they called the Falcons to try to get something done, they were told he was not accessible. It’s because they didn’t want to engage in bad faith. Basically, trade this guy for a second-round selection, and surprise, he’s suspended for a year. They [the Falcons] did not want to do it.”
Ridley ended up missing the entire 2022 season and was reinstated the following offseason. He was traded from the Falcons to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick that later became a third-round pick.
The Jets were initially interested in Ridley, so they traded a draft pick for him. This offseason, they will have the option of signing him outright as a free agent, with the only cost being a new contract.
Ridley, 29, earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2020. He totaled 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns. That was and continues to be his most successful season.
“If he’s available, [Ridley] is someone I’d consider signing. They like him. I believe he would be a good compliment to Garrett Wilson. “I believe he could be what they’re looking for as a receiver,” Hughes stated.
When speaking with local media, Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke “appeared” to dismiss the possibility of pass rusher Josh Allen going undrafted in March.
However, he did not make the same guarantee about Ridley.
“We would love to have Calvin back,” Baalke told Eric Edholm of the NFL Media Group. “We will work through that. That indicates I don’t know right now.
That may pave the way for the Jets to bring Ridley to the Big Apple to team up with Wilson and catch passes from future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers.
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