Cross Calvin Ridley off the Philadelphia Eagles’ wishlist

It seems like everyone has a favorite free agent wide receiver target for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Some like Mike Williams, the 6-foot-4 Clemson product who developed into a legitimate deep threat over his five-season run in Los Angeles. Others prefer players like Penn State’s Allen Robinson, ex-Jaguar DJ Chark, or even Amari Cooper, who has drawn a surprising amount of pushback from Philly fans despite consistently being one of the better wide receivers the NFL has had to offer since entering the league in 2015.

Are any of these players the “correct” choice? No, the “obvious” pick could always backfire on the Birds in a spectacular way – need I say more than Byron Maxwell? – and a less hyped-up player like, say, Brandon Brooks could outperform a “better” player like Jeff Allen.

With all of that being said, there is one player who is unquestionably off the Philadelphia Eagles’ targets list for the 2022 NFL season because he is quite literally barred from playing. If you were betting on seeing Calvin Ridley reunited with Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith this fall and haven’t engaged with any other NFL media today, then you might want to sit down.

Don’t expect to see Calvin Ridley with the Philadelphia Eagles any time soon.

After stepping away from the Atlanta Falcons last season to address his mental health, many a fan around the NFL wanted to see what 2022 had in store for Calvin Ridley, mainly because he declared his intentions to play elsewhere when he returned to the field.

Though he wouldn’t come cheap, teams across the NFL looking for a WR1 or even a WR1b at least “war games”-d up potential scenarios of how the 27-year-old former first-round pick would fit into their offense and how much they’d be willing to give up in order to get a deal done.

Would the Philadelphia Eagles be willing to trade away the 19th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, their third of three first-round picks, to reunite Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith with their former teammate? Or could the team instead get away with trading something like a second this year and a third in 2023, a popular package I routinely saw mocked across the internet?

Well, after news broke that Ridley was suspended the entire 2022 season at least after betting $1,500 on games when he was away from the team, including games played by the Falcons, it’s pretty safe to say no one is going to be trading for the Alabama product anytime soon, assuming he is even allowed to be traded, which he probably isn’t.

Now obviously, this is a crummy situation for all parties involved. It stinks for Ridley because, after missing the better part of a season, his NFL career has now been called into question. It stinks for the Falcons, as they expected legitimate compensation for Ridley’s contracts and for teams like the Eagles who were potentially interested in his services.

*sigh* who could have seen this one coming?

If the Philadelphia Eagles want to add a veteran free agent wide receiver, they will have every opportunity to do so regardless of Calvin Ridley’s eligibility. With intriguing players of all different shapes, sizes, experience levels, and abilities, Howie Roseman can use his cap space to secure a number of nice options to supplement DeVonta Smith on the outside and Quez Watkins in the slot. And hey, if they ultimately miss out on a big named player, there’s always the draft, where players like Drake London, Treylon Burks, and Chris Olave could all be available at 15/16.