The Tennessee Titans made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason on Wednesday afternoon by agreeing to a deal with free agent wide receiver Calvin Ridley.
According to multiple reports, the Titans agreed to a deal with Ridley worth $92 million over four years with $50 million in guaranteed money.
The majority of Titans fans, at least based on social media reactions, were immediately thrilled with the move. Ridley returned to the NFL in 2023 after a one year suspension (for sports betting) and had a terrific year with the Jacksonville Jaguars, catching 76 passes for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns.
Opposing fans, however, suggested that Tennessee "overpaid" for Ridley, noting that the former Alabama standout will turn 30 years old in December.
(Maybe it's true that the Titans "overpaid", but sometimes that's what you have to do to land talented players....they're hardly alone in ponying up serious cash to sign a top free agent. And if anything, the franchise should be praised for taking a big swing.)
The national media took the overpay narrative a step further by taking the Titans to task for trading wide receiver AJ Brown, who is three years younger than Ridley, to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 (instead of giving him a new contract) and then signing an older Ridley to a deal that's just slightly cheaper (by $8 million) than the one Brown received from Philly.
Talk about uniformed.
The Brown fiasco, which everyone can agree was a unwise move on the Titans' part, happened under the previous front office in Nashville.
And it's arguably the main reason why former Titans general manager Jon Robinson was fired near the end of the 2022 season.
Current Titans general manager Ran Carthon was the director of player personnel for the San Francisco 49ers when Robinson shockingly traded Brown to the Eagles. Carthon had zero to do with Brown's exit from Nashville.
I'm sure Carthon would love to have Brown in a Titans uniform. Who wouldn't want a player as talented as Brown on the roster (outside of Jon Robinson)?
But what's done is done. Carthon didn't inherit a team with Brown on the roster -- he inherited a team with needs at wide receiver. And he addressed that need via free agency by signing the top available wide receiver. This move has nothing to do with Brown or the deal that went down in 2022. Instead, it's all about 2024 and beyond for the Titans.
Don't let the national media fool you. The Titans aren't trying to save face over the Brown trade by signing Ridley. And the front office isn't "clueless" because Brown was traded two years ago and Ridley was signed to a lucrative deal in free agency. Robinson made a bad move and it very likely cost him his job. That era of Titans football, however, is over.
Simply put, it's a lazy and recklessly irresponsible narrative from the national media.
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