Eagles nearly traded for Falcons' Calvin Ridley before gambling suspension?

One piece of information included in the shocking news from earlier this week that Atlanta Falcons star wide receiver Calvin Ridley had been suspended through at least the entire 2022 season for betting on league games this past fall involved the Falcons fielding calls about Ridley's availability last month but refusing to engage in trade talks after the 27-year-old missed the second half of this past campaign for reasons he said were related to his mental health. 

Per Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia, NFL insider Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported on an upcoming edition of the "Takeoff with John Clark" podcast the Philadelphia Eagles were on the cusp of acquiring Ridley this winter — or so they believed. 

"It was actually funny because they were one of the teams, they were close to a deal with Atlanta for Calvin Ridley and Atlanta backed out at the last second," Glazer said of the Eagles. "And Philly was like, 'What’s going on?' They couldn’t really tell them. So Philly wasn’t too happy and then after, looked at it like, 'Alright, Atlanta, thanks.' Atlanta did business the right way. They weren’t allowed to say anything, again, the legalities of it, couldn’t say a word. They just had to pull out. 

"But, man, if Philly could have gotten a talent like Calvin Ridley when he didn’t have these issues, that would have been good for them. Again, they’re aggressive. Howie (Roseman) is always really aggressive. That would have been big, especially with a lot of Alabama guys. That would have been a good one had he not had the issues, but he did. So Atlanta just had to pull out and couldn’t tell them for a couple weeks why." 

For what it's worth, it's unclear if Ridley would've welcomed a trade to Philadelphia, wanted to return to the Falcons or would've continued his hiatus. The Falcons said in a statement they first learned of the NFL’s investigation into Ridley on Feb. 9. 

Teams potentially looking to sell wide receiver talent this spring (looking at you, Seattle Seahawks) should probably expect to hear from the Eagles sooner than later if they haven't already.