Falcons owner Arthur Blank: 'We'd love' WR Calvin Ridley to stay

Atlanta Falcons star wide receiver Calvin Ridley has essentially been an inactive NFL player since he announced on Halloween he was stepping away to address his mental health. Following Week 18 of the season, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said Ridley's status "really hasn't changed," but team owner Arthur Blank has offered a little more information about the 27-year-old, who will be on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract when the new league year begins next month. 

"We love the young man," Blank told Scott Bair of the club's website on Wednesday. "He has had a great history in Atlanta. We'd love him to stay in Atlanta. Whether or not he wants to do that -- he may decide that he wants a fresh start someplace else. We don't know that. I don't know that. I don't have information to indicate that, but we'll see how that plays out.

"We've been totally supportive in every way that we can be, both emotionally and financially in working with him as well as his agent. We'll see, but I'm mostly concerned about him as a human being."

Atlanta drafted Ridley No. 26 overall in 2018, and he's only played for the Falcons since his rookie year but has been linked with multiple other teams in trade rumors over the past couple of months. In late January, MMQB's Albert Breer poured cold water over previous rumors and explained why Ridley's contract won't roll over for one additional season despite the fact he landed on the non-football injury list last fall: