When Jaguars GM Trent Baalke made the trade for a then-suspended Calvin Ridley at the 2022 trade deadline, many fans including myself applauded the move. It seemed franchise QB Trevor Lawrence got his true number 1 receiver, similar moves have had astronomical payoffs like in the case of Stephon Diggs' arrival in Buffalo as he quickly took Josh Allen to the next level or the Bengals drafting Joe Burrow's LSU teammate Ja'marr Chase. Of course, we'd have to wait a while for Ridley to arrive in Jacksonville, due to the previously mentioned suspension, but as the Jag's offense took off in the second half of the 2022 season, culminating in a historic wild-card, playoff win, and a close loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Chiefs, the common belief was Ridley would be the piece to fully unlock Lawrence and the offense's potential.
Once officially reinstated Ridley announced a number change to zero, which he said represented his middle name "Orin", further driving in his commitment to change and desire to be the best version of himself. Throughout training camp it was clear Ridley still had the speed and explosiveness that helped him become a premier player in Atlanta, excitement only grew with each clip that came out of camp showcasing his talent. Once opening week rolled around Ridley gave fans a reason to trust the hype posting a 8 catch, 101-yard and 1 touchdown stat line against Indy, and most importantly helped the Jaguars start 1-0. However, the next three weeks would show glimpses of the inconsistency that would plague Ridley and the offense's seasons. The team went 1-2, with Ridley not being able to top 100 yards or get more than 4 catches in a game. Week six would kick off a great stretch for the team and Ridley who would only fail to get at least 4 catches in two games, the team went 6-1 before a devastating last season collapse, which would only see one hundred-yard game from Calvin, and a 1-5 finish to the season. Over this time reports came out that Ridley was struggling to learn the playbook, directly leading to at least two interceptions on miscommunications between Trevor and him.
A season ending like this is hard to swallow, and there is plenty of blame to go around from GM Trent Baalke, to Coach Pederson and the players themselves. Fans have turned their attention to Ridley as well, part of the reason the trade didn't cost the Jaguars much draft capital was Agent Zero's expiring contract, he can walk with the team receiving nothing in return, but if a contract extension is signed the team owes the Falcons a second-round pick, or if the deal is made following the start of the new league year a third-rounder. Many fans are now asking if Calvin is worth that draft capital to a team with many holes to fill to reach true contender status.
In my opinion, YES he is worth it and needed back on the team next year. Ideally, this would be on a 2-4 year deal with an average of 12-14 million a year, being done after the new league year to save a second-rounder. While there were definitely stretches, where it looked like Ridley was doing a disappearing act rather than playing football, he still finished over a thousand yards and nine touchdowns. This is production that is hard to replicate, and another year in the system with more chemistry with Lawrence this should go up. Furthermore, the losing streak and offensive woes coincided with Christian Kirk's season ending injury, meaning more defensive attention could be placed on Ridley, and outside of Evan Engram almost no one stepped up to take some of the burden off of him. In whole, I believe Ridley's struggles were a combination of being out the league for two years, learning a new system, and an anemic offense, which can be reliefed with proper roster moves this off-season. Losing Ridley would hurt far more then the draft and salary effects of keeping him.
Evan Schwarzbart
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