The Tennessee Titans’ Calvin Ridley signing adds a potentially game-altering weapon to second-year quarterback Will Levis‘ supporting cast and rounds out an explosive duo opposite DeAndre Hopkins, but, the move doesn’t come without risk.
Ridley is one year removed from serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s gambling policy, and has been somewhat inconsistent throughout his career with the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Pro Football Focus believes this is a classic risk-reward gamble for the Titans.
“Ridley was the big fish on the market once all of the top wideouts either re-signed or got franchise-tagged,” Brad Spielberger points out. “For most of free agency, it seemed that Ridley’s options were the Jaguars or Patriots, but the Titans came in toward the end with a strong offer to close the deal. The Titans did have a need at wide receiver, but there is some risk to paying Ridley more than $90 million when he’s going to turn 30 in December. Tennessee is also paying Ridley as a top-10 wide receiver even though he ranked 45th in PFF receiving grade, 50th in yards per route run and in the top 25 in drop rate this past season.”
Dropped passes could certainly hamper any growth the Tennessee Titans hope Ridley’s arrival helps Levis achieve in short order.
All told, PFF gives Ridley’s signing an “A” for filling a need and his scheme fit in the Titans’ offense, but just a “C+” in terms of the value Tennessee is getting out of his new contract.
What Calvin Ridley Brings to Tennessee Titans’ Offense
Opposite fellow field-stretcher DeAndre Hopkins, Ridley arrives in Tennessee with the possibility of becoming an explosive deep-threat.
Last season, catching passes from Trevor Lawrence, Ridley averaged 13.4 yards per reception while pulling down 76 passes for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns.
Perhaps most encouraging for Tennessee, and Levis’ prospects in 2024, Lawrence posted an 89.7 passer rating when targeting Ridley. Meanwhile, Ridley averaged just under three yards after the catch per reception.
Meanwhile, Ridley’s average depth of target was 13.2 yards, which should mesh well with Levis, who threw three of the ten longest touchdown passes by air yards in 2023.
Since being chosen by the Atlanta Falcons in the first-round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Ridley has caught 324 passes for 4,358 yards with 36 touchdowns, while averaging 13.5 yards per reception throughout his career, so far.
How much Cap Space do Titans Have?
Even after signing Calvin Ridley, the Tennessee Titans might not be done in free agency.
Yes, Ridley’s four-year contract worth $92 million with $50 million fully guaranteed is a massive commitment, Tennessee still has some spending flexibility under the cap.
As NFL free agency reaches its second wave, the Tennessee Titans still have approximately $46.7 million in cap space, which is the third-most spending flexibility in the NFL.
Titans general manager Ran Carthon still has plenty of cap space to be big players when it comes to remaining targets on the open market as well as to have stashed a way to sign Tennessee’s draft class next month.
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