Calvin Ridley has ‘applied for reinstatement’ in the NFL, nearly a year after being suspended indefinitely by the league through at the least the conclusion of the 2022 season for betting on games in the previous season, including on his own team.
The 2023 pick can flip into a fifth-rounder if Ridley is reinstated. The 2024 pick can either become a third-rounder based on playing time or second-round pick if he signs a long-term extension. Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, both of whom signed last April, helped Jacksonville get over its receiving troubles by guiding the team to a first postseason appearance since 2017.
The Jaguars wide receiver is eager to get himself back out there next season. He was still serving his suspension when the Atlanta Falcons traded him to Jacksonville in exchange for a conditional 2023 sixth-round pick and 2024 fourth-round picks.
The NFL determined Ridley bet on NFL games in 2021 while away from the Falcons addressing mental health concerns. The league’s investigation concluded that no evidence inside information was used or that any game was compromised by the wide receiver’s betting.
The former 26th-overall pick of the 2018 draft last played on October 24, 2021, in a 30-28 win for the Falcons over the Miami Dolphins. In that matchup, Ridley caught four passes for 26 yards and a touchdown.
Ridley then had to forfeit his base salary of $11.1million for 2022. He had 90 catches for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020; and had 31 receptions for 281 yards and two scores before sitting out the final two months of the 2021 season.
The Jaguars have had little luck at the receiver position over the years. They drafted nine receivers in the first three rounds ahead of the 2022 season, but only Marqise Lee got a second contract.
Three days later, the 28-year-old announced on Twitter that he was stepping away from football due to mental health reasons before the league announced his suspension in March – five months later.
Among the less-than-ideal picks were Justin Blackmon in 2012, Matt Jones in 2005, Reggie Williams in 2004 and R. Jay Soward in 2000. Blackmon, Jones and Soward each was suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, and none of those four ever played another meaningful down in the NFL.
Jacksonville also has struck out repeatedly with receivers in free agency, including Chris Conley (2019), Laurent Robinson (2012) and Jerry Porter (2008). The Jaguars beat the L.A. Chargers in the Wild Card Round before going on to lose against the eventual Super Bowl champions in the Kansas City Chiefs.
