ReportWire

Tag: Calvin Ridley

  • Receivers Extended Around The League – Eagles One Step Ahead – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    Receivers Extended Around The League – Eagles One Step Ahead – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    [ad_1]

    When you get things done ahead of 31 other teams in the league, there’s always a reward.

    For Howie Roseman and the Eagles, it’s a sigh of relief knowing your star players under contract for the next 2-6 years. And they’ve managed to save MILLIONS while doing so.
    Back in April, the Eagles extended multiple players. Now that the ink has dried on those contracts. It was about time the rest of the league got around to paying some of the other superstars.

    Eagles Remain Ahead

    In April, the Eagles signed their star receivers to two massive extensions.

    • April 15th,  DeVonta Smith, 3-year, $75M + 5th year option
    • April 25th, A.J. Brown, 3-year, $96M

    These contracts don’t come without merit, below has been the duos stat line the last two seasons.

    • DeVonta Smith – 33GP, 2,262Rec Yards, 14TD
    • A.J. Brown – 34GP, 2,952Rec Yards, 18TD

    While these may have been the first few receivers to be paid this off-season, they certainly weren’t the biggest paydays handed out in recent signings.

     

    This Weeks Extensions

    In the last few days. Multiple receivers have gotten contract extensions with their current team, including:

    Let’s see how these recent contracts compare with base stats of the following two seasons in comparison to the Eagles duo

    • Nico Collins – 24GP, 1,778Rec Yards, 10TD
    • Jaylen Waddle – 31GP, 2,370Rec Yards, 12TD

    When comparing to the Collins deal things might look great. Keep in mind that’s only 1 season with C.J. Stroud as the Texans Quarterback. Things might change in the upcoming season as well, with the addition of Stefon Diggs as well as the hopeful return for Tank Dell’s sophomore season.

    The same goes for looking at Waddle’s deal. Similar to DeVonta Smith who’s in a WR2 role behind Brown/Tyreek Hill. DeVonta Smith has put up similar numbers (108 less yards) and will be getting paid nearly $10M less across the 3 years of his deal. With these new contracts for star studded teams, which receiver would you rather in this scenario?

     

    Past Deals

    Of course these weren’t the only Receivers to break the bank this off-season, in fact multiple have already seen their new deals come through, including:

    • March 11th, Michael Pittman Jr, 3-year, $70M
    • April 24th, Amon-Ra St. Brown, 4-year, $120.01M
    • March 13th, Calvin Ridley, 4-year, $92M

    Of course with their payday, comes the stats. How does this other batch of receivers hold up to the last 4?

    • Michael Pittman Jr. – 32GP, 2,077Rec Yards, 8TD
    • Amon-Ra St. Brown – 32GP, 2,676Rec Yards, 16TD
    • Calvin Ridley – 17GP, 1,016Rec Yards, 8TD

    Even if Calvin Ridley had played the 2022 season. His numbers would still be somewhere between Pittman and DeVonta Smith. Depending on what team he had gone to, Ridley could have surpassed the 1,200 mark with ease.

    With all these receivers being under contract for the next 3-5 Years. You’d think that means the rest of the big names due in the upcoming year have seen new deals? For some, that’s not the case.

     

    No Contract In Sight?

    Also from the 2021 Draft class with Smith and Waddle, is Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase. Entering his 4th season, Chase has put up the following his last two years as a Bengal:

    • Ja’Marr Chase – 28GP, 2,262Rec Yards, 16TD

    Without a contract, the Bengals have exercised their $21.8M 5th year option for the following season. It will be hard to deny Chase of an extension. Even without Joe Burrow for lengthy periods, Chase has still been able to have success.

    But in the NFC, there’s two more names struggling for a payday.

    • CeeDee Lamb – 34GP, 3,108Rec Yards, 21TD
    • Justin Jefferson – 27GP, 2,883Rec Yards, 13TD

    Seeing every other team continue to lock up receivers might be good for the players, but certainly not the teams. A.J and Amon-Ra’s deals are going to be the closest comparison for this duo to get paid. And if they’re trying to takeover the #1 and #2 spot for highest paid receivers, teams will be looking to pay north of $30M to keep these players under contract.

     

    After all the deals and carousel doors of acquiring younger receivers, what contracts would you offer these players who might be left still bargaining for a deal come next off-season?

     

     

    Photo Credit: Rich Schultz / AP Photo

    [ad_2]

    Tyler L’Heureux

    Source link

  • Jags’ Ridley thinks he could be better after lengthy layoff

    Jags’ Ridley thinks he could be better after lengthy layoff

    [ad_1]

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — By the time Calvin Ridley first stepped on a practice field with Trevor Lawrence a few weeks ago, he felt as if he already had played a full season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

    That’s because Ridley watched every snap Jacksonville took last season “10 or 12 times” while wrapping up his yearlong suspension for violating the NFL’s gambling policy. He broke down formations, routes and coverages, envisioning himself in each of those situations alongside Lawrence, Christian Kirk, Zay Jones and Evan Engram.

    It was the most he could do from afar. And he hopes it will help him catch up and maybe even be better than before after a nearly two-year layoff.

    “I know who I am. I can help them,” Ridley said Wednesday. “Like, I really mean that. I know I can help move the ball. We should be able to move the ball.”

    The NFL reinstated Ridley early last month and cleared the way for him to join his new team in Jacksonville. Ridley spent the past five weeks getting to know the city and, more importantly, the playbook. He’s already worked out “three of four times” with Lawrence and others, catching passes and getting a feel for what could be one of the more dynamic offenses in the league.

    It’s been a refreshing reboot for the former Atlanta wideout who last played an NFL game in October 2021 and has no doubt he will return to form long before the season opener in September.

    “If I’m being real, if I’m being honest, I’ve been good at football all my life,” he said. “I’m trying to be humble. Like I said, I’ve been pretty good at football all my life. I not only have been good, I also worked to be good.

    “And they say two years off, but what about the healing process that I got with that time off? What if I got faster? What if I got stronger? Obviously I got wiser. Why can’t I be better?”

    The Jaguars gave up a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2024 to get Ridley from Atlanta at the trade deadline in November. He was suspended after the league determined he bet on NFL games in 2021 while away from the Falcons to address mental health concerns stemming from a home invasion he detailed last month in an article for The Players Tribune.

    NFL investigators uncovered no evidence inside information was used or that any game was compromised by Ridley’s betting.

    Now, with Ridley entering the final year of his rookie contract, the Jaguars are counting on Ridley being a pivotal piece added to an offense that was ranked fifth in the league in total yards in 2022.

    “He’s been awesome,” Lawrence said. “He’s hungry. He’s excited to be here. He’s got the right attitude. I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve noticed. He’s a freak, you know, just the way he runs routes, how explosive he is. Great hands.

    “Obviously we just started, but it seems like he’s picking it up pretty quickly.”

    Ridley caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns despite dealing with a broken left foot in 2020. He had 31 receptions for 281 yards and two scores before sitting out the final two months of the 2021 season.

    He’s essentially starting over in Jacksonville and shaking hands with everyone in the building while making sure they know he’s serious about the game and reviving his career.

    He also hasn’t backed down from his belief that Jacksonville is getting a 1,400-yard receiver despite the lengthy layoff, a single-season mark that’s happened just twice in franchise history (Jimmy Smith had 1,636 yards in 1999 and Allen Robinson had 1,400 in 2015).

    “What I’ll say about that is this: I am a 1,400-yard type of player,” Ridley said. “God is going to determine what type of stats I am going to have. Football is serious. You don’t just play 17 games straight and think you’re going to be in every one of ’em and playing healthy in all of ’em.

    “So what I’m saying is I am a 1400-yard receiver with a broke foot. You know what I’m saying? I know that I could make the plays and I know that I’m one of the better receivers in this league. That’s what I’m saying.”

    ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

    [ad_2]

    Source link