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WR Calvin Ridley signs a 4-Year Deal worth $92 Million with the Tennessee Titans
Introduction
On Wednesday, March 13th, 2024 the veteran wide receiver in Calvin Ridley proclaimed that he is signing a 4-year contract worth up to approximately $92 million that includes $50 million in total guaranteed money with the Tennessee Titans according to his agents David Mulugheta and Reza Hesam.
The New Look Tennessee Titans
Calvin now joins the stacked Tennessee Titans who already have the great substantial weapons in DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks as the top pass-catchers for their 2nd-year quarterback named Will Levis.
The Tennessee Titans also agreed on a 1-year deal with the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Mason Rudolph. Rudolph's deal is valued around $3.62 million. Mason will now have to compete with the 3rd - year quarterback in Malik Willis for the back - up quarterback role behind Levis. The Tennessee Titans have a 1 and 2 record throughout Willis' 3-career NFL - starts.
NFL Suspension for Betting on Games
After returning from an NFL season-long 2022-2023 suspension for violating the National Football League's gambling policy, Ridley has managed to catch 76 passes, which was good for 1,016 receiving yards as well as 8 touchdowns receptions for the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2023-2024 NFL season. The Jacksonville Jaguars opener vs. the Indianapolis Colts marked 23 months between playing in NFL games for Ridley.
Calvin said back in January that he wanted to return to the Jacksonville Jaguars for the 2024 -2025 NFL season due to the fact that he has built strong relationships with his teammates, and that the prospect of not having to learn another offensive system was also a major benefit for Ridley, but he was not sure whether or not that would happen as he added that the money would be a major decisive factor in his ultimate choice as an NFL free agent.
The now 29-year-old Ridley, was suspended for the 2022-2023 NFL season after an investigation found that he ultimately gambled on NFL games over a 5 - day stretch during November of 2021 while he was away from his current team in the Atlanta Falcons. In a series of tweets after the NFL suspension, Calvin admitted to wagering on bets totaling up to around $1,500, but Ridley said he does not have a big gambling problem.
Despite that suspension, the Jacksonville Jaguars acquired Calvin in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons back on November 1st, 2022, while they sent a 2023 5th-round NFL draft pick as well as a conditional pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to the Atlanta Falcons for Ridley. Calvin was paid a guaranteed $11.116 million back in 2023 on the 5th - year option of his rookie contract that he signed after being drafted with the 26th - overall draft pick by the Atlanta Falcons back in 2018.
Due to the fact that the Jacksonville Jaguars did not sign Calvin to a new deal after the new league year began, the Jacksonville Jaguars will now have to send a third-round NFL draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons to complete the terms of the 2022 trade negotiation that ultimately brought Calvin to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Had they signed him prior to the 2023 league year ending, they would have owed the Atlanta Falcons 2nd-round NFL draft pick.
Calvin was eventually reinstated on March 6th, 2023. Just two days later, Ridley wrote in a piece for The Players' Tribune that gambling on National Football League games was the "worst mistake" of his entire life, and that was now behind him moving forward.
Other off of the Field Issues for Calvin Ridley
Ridley also mentioned that he played through a foot injury back in 2020, and he got misdiagnosed with a bone bruise which eventually led to him having surgery a couple of months prior to training camp that began in 2021. Calvin said he was mentally drained from dealing with the injury as well as he was also dealing with anxiety corresponding to a break - in at his house, which is why he eventually stepped away from the NFL game action back on October 31st, 2021, as he said that he needed to focus on his mental health at that time.
Ridley compiled a total of 248 - catches that was good for 3,342 receiving yards as well as 28 touchdowns throughout the 49 NFL games that he played in for the Atlanta Falcons that included 90 catches for 1,374 yards and 9 touchdowns back in 2020.
Mason Rudolph
Rudolph, who was originally taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers back in the 3rd-round of the 2018 NFL Draft, spent most of his career in Pittsburgh with the Steelers as a back - up QB prior to helping the Pittsburgh Steelers to the NFL postseason with 3 starts to end the 2023-2024 NFL regular season.
Throughout those football games, the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense averaged a total of 27 points per game as well as 387 yards of offense, and Mason tossed 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions during that time.
Before the 2023-2024 NFL season, Rudolph's 1st - extended time as a starting QB came back in 2019, when he took over the job following the Pittsburgh Steelers’ great in Ben Roethlisberger's season-ending elbow injury. Mason appeared in only 10 games that year, starting just 8 games, and he threw 13 touchdowns to his 9 interceptions. The season was a very tumultuous one for Mason, who suffered a concussion during his 1st start, and he was nearly struck by the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett swinging his helmet at his head, and that resulted in him being benched for the rookie UDFA Devlin "Duck" Hodges who eventually ended that season on the NFL’s injured reserve list.
But when Rudolph took over the starting quarterback job for Kenny Pickett during the previous 2023-2024 NFL season, Mason’s teammates and coaches praised his maturity and commitment to putting in the work in helping the organization make the playoffs during quote a rough year for them.
"I think when you're going through it -- everything from being thrown in and then getting knocked unconscious for a bit and then some adversity later in the year in Cleveland and then being benched -- I think it's no fun," The Pittsburgh Steelers QB in Mason Rudolph stated back in last December. "It's hell while you're going through it, but when you take a step back and breathe, and I'm 28 years of age, I'm just ultra - thankful that it happened. I think everything happens for a reason, but who wants to go through a life and have no adversity and just kind of always win? It teaches you lessons and it prepares you for life after football."
For his overall NFL career, Mason has thrown for 3,085 passing yards with 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions throughout a total of 21 games played in the National Football League.
Ridley’s Football Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards
- Second - Team NFL All - Pro Selection (2020)
- PFWA All - Rookie Team Selection (2018)
- 2 - Time College Football Playoff National Champion (2015, 2017)
- Freshman All - American Selection (2015)
- First - Team All - SEC Selection (2017)
- 2 - Time Second - Team All - SEC Selection (2015, 2016)
Sources:
“Agents: Titans to sign WR Calvin Ridley to 4 - year, $92M deal”, espn.com, March 13, 2024.
“Calvin Ridley”, pro-football-reference.com, March 14, 2024.
“Calvin Ridley”, spotrac.com, March 14, 2024.