Tag: Calvin Ridley

Will Levis endorses idea of Titans signing Calvin Ridley

Titans QB Will Levis recently praised Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley, who is set to become a free agent in 2024.

With new head coach Brian Callahan at the helm, the Tennessee Titans are expected to move to a more pass-heavy offense in 2024, something quarterback Will Levis will no doubt be happy about.

During an interview with former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III on the “RG3 and The Ones” podcast, Levis said he’s looking forward to moving the ball through the air more this coming season.

“I’m looking forward to getting the ball in the air more,” Levis said. “I’m looking forward to throwing more on earlier downs. I’m looking forward to really learning to master the pass game because (Callahan has) been able to do that and teach it and see so many guys do it.

“I’m really hoping I can be another one of those guys for him. I know I have what it takes. I just got to put the pieces together.”

Before the Titans can move forward with that plan, they’ve got to add more help at the wide receiver position and beef up their offensive line, which was horrendous in pass protection last season.

One receiver Levis would like to play with is Jacksonville Jaguars pending free agent Calvin Ridley, who the Kentucky product praised while noting the veteran receiver’s familiarity with offensive coordinator Nick Holz, who was the Jags’ passing-game coordinator in 2023.

“Yeah, he’s definitely an awesome player,” Levis said of Ridley. “I got to see first-hand him torch us a couple of times. It would be cool to have someone of his caliber out there playing. I’m sure he’s comfortable with Holz.”

“It would be cool to definitely play with him and, who knows, maybe link up in the offseason, get some balls in the air and see what we can make happen. But it’s not my decision. I don’t really have any pull.”

It remains to be seen if the Jags will re-sign Ridley, but if not the Titans should definitely be interested, as not only would he be a great second option, but the signing would also hurt a division rival.

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Report: Jaguars a ‘potential trade up team’ to draft WR Rome Odunze

How aggressive will the Jaguars be about upgrading the receiver position?

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ lack of depth at wide receiver proved costly late in the 2023 season when Christian Kirk went down with an injury and Zay Jones struggled to produce at less than 100 percent. How aggressive will the Jaguars be in their effort to improve the position?

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Jacksonville could make a bold move in the 2024 NFL draft to add a top talent at receiver.

On Saturday night, Rapoport listed the Jaguars as one of four teams that could be interested in moving up in the draft order to target Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze.

“He also spent some time with the Colts, the Jaguars, the Rams, and the Steelers,” Rapoport said of Odunze. “The reason why those are interesting is those would be potential trade up teams. Rarely do you see a huge trade up for a receiver, but not never.”

Odunze, a two-time All-Pac-12 selection and unanimous All-American in 2023, is widely expected to be one of the first three receivers off the board in April along with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers. It’d be a surprise if Odunze was available outside the top 10 selections.

What would it cost for the Jaguars to slide into the first 10 picks from their current spot at No. 17 overall? Back in 2011, Jacksonville traded away its second-round pick to move up from No. 16 to No. 10 to take Blaine Gabbert. It’d likely cost a similar amount to make that kind of move in 2024.

The Jaguars’ need at receiver will likely be contingent on its negotiations with Calvin Ridley. If the team loses the veteran, it may be a pressing enough issue that Odunze is a target.

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Contract projections for 6 Jaguars in line to receive new deals

How much would it cost the Jaguars to keep Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, and a few other players with new contracts? Spoiler: a whole lot.

When Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke spoke to reporters at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, he revealed the team is in talks with three of its impending free agents — Josh Allen, Calvin Ridley, and Ezra Cleveland — to bring them back.

Later, in an interview with NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe, he said the Jaguars have started talks with quarterback Trevor Lawrence too.

So how much would it cost to sign all four of those players to new contracts? Spoiler alert: a lot.

With the salary cap soaring, several Jaguars players are well-positioned to secure pricy contracts if the team hopes to keep them for the foreseeable future. Add defensive backs Tyson Campbell and Andre Cisco to the mix (Baalke mentioned them in an interview as players who will “eventually need contracts”) and the Jaguars could be handing out several big deals to some of their key players.

Here’s a guess at how much it’d cost for the Jaguars to keep those six players if they signed new contracts this offseason:

5 important numbers for the Jaguars with 2024 salary cap set

Salary cap space, fifth-year option totals, and franchise tag numbers all became official Friday.

The NFL’s salary cap is set to make an unprecedented jump from $224.8 million to $255.4 million in 2024.

The more than $30 million difference is much larger than most expected and means extra room for the Jacksonville Jaguars to work with during the 2024 offseason.

But that’s not the only news from Friday that’s important for the Jaguars. With the salary cap for the upcoming season officially set, Jacksonville also learned how much it’ll cost to make a few potential moves in the coming weeks.

The franchise tag numbers are now set and the fifth-year option totals for 2021 first-round selections are also official.

Here are five numbers that were set Friday and stand to impact the Jaguars’ immediate future:

Larger than expected salary cap means more space for Jaguars

The Jaguars have much more cap space to work with than most expected.

Business is booming for the NFL and the salary cap is soaring.

While the total amount each team can spend on salaries has increased on an annual basis, the jump from 2023 to 2024 was an unprecedented total. After it was set at $224.8 last season, it’s set to be a $255.4 million cap in the upcoming year.

Earlier this month, most had the Jacksonville Jaguars estimated at about $11 million in salary cap space. But that was based off the projection that the 2024 cap would be set around $242 million. With the cap more than $13 million higher than most expected, the Jaguars are now estimated to have about $24.67 million.

The additional space could absolutely come in handy, especially if the Jaguars hope to keep both Josh Allen and Calvin Ridley. If the team uses the franchise tag to keep Allen, it’ll cost the team between $21.3 and $24 million, depending on what position he’s classified as by the league.

It seemed the Jaguars would have to do some work to clear the space necessary to keep the pass rusher and retain Ridley. That’ll still be the case, but now Jacksonville is set to have enough space to keep Allen without any roster finagling.

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31 free agents the Seahawks could target in 2024 – one from every other NFL team

Reviewing 31 free agents around the NFL – one from each team – that the Seahawks could target to sign in 2024.

The Seahawks’ salary cap picture for 2024 may look ugly right now. After last night’s simple restructure of Geno Smith’s contract they are about even with the league’s cap limit this year. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of room to maneuver. However, general manager John Schneider still has plenty of options to change the team’s cap picture in a hurry.

Fans should probably expect mostly mid-level signings and bargain hunting in free agency, but we can’t completely rule out a splash signing. Here are 31 pending free agents (one from every other team) that Seattle could consider signing when the market opens next month.

We have included a wide range of options, from big-name, big contract targets to under-the-radar type free agents. Our primary focus was on the interior of both sides of the line of scrimmage, but we didn’t ignore interesting players at any spot except for quarterback – where we would prefer to roll with either Geno Smith, Michael Penix Jr. or nobody.

You may see potential replacements for Leonard Williams, Jamal Adams and Tyler Lockett, a few old familiar faces, a whole host of possible upgrades at guard and just about every high-end pass rusher that’s about to hit the market except for Chris Jones and Josh Allen – who will both most likely be out of Seattle’s price range. Let’s get to the list.

Predicting where 10 Seahawks players will land in free agency

Could the Falcons sign WR Calvin Ridley in free agency?

The Falcons are now the betting favorites to sign wide receiver Calvin Ridley in free agency….

Even after adding offensive weapons in the first round of three consecutive drafts, the Atlanta Falcons still need some help at wide receiver. Fortunately, there will be plenty of good options available in both the NFL draft and free agency this year.

In our latest mock draft, we have the team selecting Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze in the first round. However, some NFL oddsmakers have their money on a different receiver coming to Atlanta this offseason.

The Falcons are currently the betting favorites to sign Calvin Ridley in free agency, followed by the Chiefs, Jets, Bills and Steelers.

  1. Falcons: +200
  2. Chiefs: +500
  3. Jets: +700
  4. Bills: +800
  5. Steelers: +1000

Even though the former first-round pick had a solid year for the Jaguars — 76 catches for 1,016 receiving yards and eight touchdowns — Jacksonville is not expected to sign him to an extension. While this doesn’t mean they won’t re-sign him, it’s unlikely to happen before the new league year begins on March 13.

By allowing him to enter free agency, the Jaguars would risk losing Ridley, but they would have to give Atlanta a second-round pick if they extend him before March 13.

The Falcons are guaranteed to get a third-round pick from Jacksonville, and it would be that much sweeter if they also bring Ridley back to Atlanta. The team is already considered the favorite to trade for Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

Stay or go: Predicting the fate of all 21 Jaguars free agents in 2024

Which Jaguars free agents are staying in Duval and which ones will be headed elsewhere?

When free agency started last year, the Jacksonville Jaguars focused their efforts on bringing back almost all of their players on expiring contracts.

While a handful of players (Jawaan Taylor, Arden Key, Marvin Jones Jr., Chris Manhertz, and Dan Arnold) were allowed to leave, the list of players retained by the Jaguars was much longer.

That may not be the case with the players set to become free agents next month. After a 1-5 end to the 2023 season cost Jacksonville a spot in the postseason, it’s clear work needs to be done and running it back with the same group isn’t a viable solution.

Still, the Jaguars aren’t going to strip the roster bare either. Here’s a prediction for what Jacksonville will do with each of the 21 players currently set to become free agents on March 13:

All 10 times the Jaguars have used the franchise tag

The Jaguars appear set to use the franchise tag for a fifth straight offseason.

As of Tuesday, NFL teams are allowed to use the franchise tag or transition tag to retain one player due to become a free agent. And for the fifth straight year, the Jacksonville Jaguars are likely to make use of the tag.

The likeliest scenario is that pass rusher Josh Allen will get the tag after posting a career-best 17.5 sacks during the 2023 season. But even if the Jaguars manage to get a deal done with Allen ahead of the March 5 deadline (which seems unlikely), they’d probably instead use the tag to keep wide receiver Calvin Ridley.

The franchise tag is a tool that guarantees a player, at minimum, a one-year fully guaranteed deal that makes them one of the highest paid players at their position. Teams also have until mid-July to sign a multi-year extension with a tagged player.

While Jacksonville has used it in four straight offseasons, the team only used it six times in the more than two decades prior. Here’s the Jaguars’ entire history of using the franchise tag:

Falcons unlikely to receive 2nd-round pick from Calvin Ridley trade

The #Falcons are unlikely to receive a second-round pick for Calvin Ridley unless the Jaguars re-sign him by March 13

Back in 2022, the Atlanta Falcons traded Calvin Ridley to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for two draft picks. Atlanta received a fifth-round pick in 2023 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024, which could turn into a second-rounder if Ridley signs a contract extension with the Jags.

Per the conditions of the trade, the team is currently set to receive Jacksonville’s third-round pick since Ridley topped 75 catches and 1,000 receiving yards this season. However, Falcons fans hoping to see that pick turn into a second-rounder shouldn’t hold their breath.

While Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke sounds like he wants Ridley back, Jacksonville can avoid giving up a second-round pick if the team holds off on re-signing Ridley until after the new league year begins on March 13.