NASHVILLE — For three years, the Tennessee Titans have had a Calvin Ridley problem. That problem might not find a solution before this week’s NFL trade deadline, and a weekend incident at Nashville International Airport (BNA) now makes the veteran wide receiver’s situation more complicated.

WKRN News 2 in Nashville first reported over the weekend that Ridley was involved in an incident at BNA that drew the attention of authorities. No police record or arrest record surfaced. The report described an altercation but did not make clear whether it was physical or verbal.

The answer is both.

What happened with Calvin Ridley at BNA

Reporting from A to Z Sports found that Ridley was involved in a verbal and physical altercation with an airport valet driver on Saturday. The valet driver sustained an injury of unknown severity, then sought to press assault charges against Ridley.

The story goes that Ridley was trying to retrieve his vehicle when the valet service told him it had lost his ticket. Because the ticket couldn’t be validated, the valet would not hand over the keys. At some point, a frustrated Ridley reached for the keys, and the valet’s hand was cut in the process. Airport and TSA law enforcement were called to the scene.

I understand the valet may have had legal reasons for withholding the car. Still, anyone who has stepped off a flight wanting nothing more than to get home can sympathize with how maddening that situation would be. You would advise Ridley not to grab for the keys, but this hardly reads like a malicious act.

Frankly, it looks like an opportunistic valet saw what kind of vehicle someone like Ridley drives and saw a window to get some money out of it. I think that’s lame. Hopefully, Ridley doesn’t have to settle for any amount.

Titans head coach Robert Saleh addressed the situation during a Zoom press conference on Monday.

“From my understanding, it was a very minor miscommunication at the airport,” Saleh told reporters. “Unfortunately, the law enforcement have it, and that’s about as far as I can go with commenting.”

Nothing changes between Ridley and the team for now. No team suspension is pending, and there’s no indication of a suspension from the league. It remains unclear whether anyone will follow through with the charges, or whether the incident affects Ridley’s value as a trade asset.

Tennessee needs to move Ridley’s contract any way it can

The bigger issue is on the field. Seven games into the season and coming off the bye, Ridley has only six catches for fewer than 100 yards. Safety Amani Hooker has just as many catches.

Meanwhile, Ridley is taking snaps away from young receivers Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor, who need as many reps as humanly possible. He has not been a reliable target for quarterback Cam Ward, and Tennessee is trying to get the most out of its young passer right now.

This is Year 3 of Ridley’s four-year, $92 million deal. He took a pay cut of nearly $9 million this offseason to stay in Tennessee, dropping his cap hit to $15.2 million and his base salary to $5.4 million. The dead cap figure still sits at $22.4 million.

Next season, Ridley carries a cap hit of $29.7 million, roughly 9.15% of the Titans’ salary cap. That simply is not tenable for a player who isn’t producing. Tennessee has the financial wiggle room to eat some of the money, and getting someone to take on that contract would be a gift.

Easier said than done.

Some reporting suggested the Titans wanted a fifth-round pick in return. I think that’s the best-case scenario, and I don’t think anybody is giving up a fifth for Ridley right now.

Several teams have receiver needs, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, and Kansas City Chiefs. Any of them could ask Tennessee to eat part of the contract and structure the return as a conditional pick. That would echo the DeAndre Hopkins trade, when the Titans got a fifth-round pick that could have become a fourth if Hopkins hit a playing-time threshold. Kansas City managed his snaps so that never happened.

Ridley deserves a change of scenery

This is not an L’Jarius Sneed situation. Ridley didn’t sign a big contract and check out. He works hard, cares, and wants to win. He hasn’t been a bad actor or a bad locker room presence.

The only knocks on him this season are that he’s not catching the football consistently and that his contract is an orca whale on Tennessee’s salary cap.

Nothing about this has been a good experience, including for Ridley. Some will argue he got paid, so why would he care? But losing wears on a player. He uprooted his entire life to come to a place where he thought he could win, and he has done little of consequence in two-plus seasons. Now, he has an airport altercation to deal with on top of it.

Ridley was a good football player, and a change of scenery could help him get back to being one. The Titans’ locker room opens Wednesday, and the trade deadline will tell whether Tennessee finally finds its exit.