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Calvin Ridley is among the many star players expected to be available when the 2024 NFL free agency period begins on March 13. His contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars expired at the end of the 2023 season and the two sides are reportedly unlikely to come to an agreement before free agency begins.
As a veteran wide receiver who has proven to be capable of topping a team's depth chart, Ridley should have a relatively strong market of interested teams during the 2024 NFL offseason. According to Jeremy Fowler, the New England Patriots are one of those teams as he reported that they are expected to "swing big" to land him this year.
It makes sense that the Patriots would be interested in Calvin Ridley as they had arguably the weakest group of wide receivers in the NFL last season. Their lack of depth was further exposed when their top option, Kendrick Bourne, went down with a season-ending ACL injury.
Bourne is also pending free agency this year, further complicating their issues at the position. Even if they bring him back, they would still be wise to make major upgrades at wide receiver after recording the fifth-fewest passing yards per game last season.
Calvin Ridley can help them toward directly solving this issue, especially with the team expected to make a change at their quarterback position. Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe have struggled to secure the starting role and many around the league believe that the Patriots will use their third-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on a new quarterback.
With a new quarterback potentially taking over, the franchise should focus on doing a better job at surrounding him with legitimate offensive weapons. They failed to do so after drafting Mac Jones, but adding an established star like Calvin Ridley would be a huge step in the right direction.
Jerod Mayo expressed interest in an impact WR like Calvin Ridley
It's a new era for the New England Patriots after they announced that Jerod Mayo will replace Bill Belichick as their head coach ahead of the 2024 NFL season. Apparently Mayo is well aware that the team needs to make upgrades to their wide receivers as he addressed their lack of offensive weapons in a recent press conference, according to SI.
Mayo said:
"It's putting people on the offensive side of the ball that the defense has to prepare for. Whether that's double-teaming or anything like that."
His statement was in response to Eliot Wolf, their director of scouting, claiming that the team needs to "weaponize" their offense during the offseason. One of the most obvious ways they can do so is by adding a legitimate wide receiver to open up their offense. Calvin Ridley is one of the top candidates to do so as he is one of the best options expected to be an unrestricted free agent this year.
