Two and a half years ago, the Tennessee Titans won the free agent bidding war for top available wide receiver Calvin Ridley. Former Titans GM Ran Carthon handed Ridley a four-year, $92 million contract in March of 2024 to be the focal point of the passing game in a new era under coach Brian Callahan, with Tennessee switching gears after the Derrick Henry years.

That offer beat out the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars for Ridley’s services. He was coming off a 1,000-yard season with the Jaguars in 2023, which was an impressive feat considering he was out of the league in 2022 while serving a gambling suspension from his time with the Atlanta Falcons.

Now Ridley is in his third season in Nashville, and his role is no longer to haul in as many passes as possible. He has three catches on five targets for just 48 yards through four games.

One of his most important jobs now? Mentoring the Titans’ new go-to receiver in Carnell Tate

Brian Daboll credits Calvin Ridley for Carnell Tate’s breakout

Tate had a breakout performance against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4. He caught nine of his 12 targets for 145 yards, the best game by a Titans rookie receiver since A.J. Brown topped 145 yards in 2019.

That came one week after Tate posted six catches on nine targets for 58 yards in Week 3, all career highs at the time. Baltimore got the version that blew those numbers out of the water.

Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was asked about the breakout at his Thursday press conference. Daboll called Tate a smart kid and credited Titans wide receivers coach Greg Lewis, but he also gave a lot of credit to Ridley. 

“Each day (Tate) is making good strides, and credit Greg Lewis with that. But having a guy like Calvin Ridley around him every day, who sits next to him in every meeting, who’s been around the block, who goes about his business the right way, I think a lot of credit goes to Calvin too for helping Tate develop at a young age.”

So even though Ridley isn’t in the spot Tate is in, he still has real value to this team.

The fumble, the laugh, and the bounce back

Yes, I know about the viral moment.

Tate fumbled the ball away to Kyle Hamilton and the Ravens at the end of the first half, a pivotal point in the loss. CBS cameras caught Tate laughing it off on the sideline… with Ridley right there by his side.

I still think Tate’s explanation holds up. After the game, he told Buck Reising and other Titans media in Baltimore that you can’t let one bad play change the rest of your game. You have to bounce back.

“I just go laugh off bad plays. I mean, at the end of the day, you got to go out there and play the next play. You can’t let the last play affect the next play. So just go out there, laugh it off, stay loose, and stay in the game,” Tate said.

And bounce back is exactly what Tate did. He was a reliable target down the stretch, including on a fourth-and-10 with the clock under two minutes and Tennessee trying to make a game of it. Cam Ward scrambled, found Tate across the field, and Tate turned it into a 33-yard gain down to the 3-yard line.

Ward hit Wan’Dale Robinson for a touchdown on the next play. The 2-point conversion to Gunnar Helm made it a 6-point game, putting everything on an onside kick.

The fumble is something Tate has to learn from, and he admitted as much. But putting together a career-best game after that mistake says a lot about the kid.

“He’s smart,” Daboll said. “I’ve said that since day one. Big catch radius. We move him around in spots. He runs good routes. He’s got good long speed. Gets on defenders in the deep part of the field. Can run any route we need him to run. I think he’s just growing with each and every game, like most young guys do.”

Calvin Ridley’s value to the Titans hasn’t disappeared, it has shifted

In his first year in Nashville, he was that 1,000-yard guy, catching 64 passes for 1,017 yards and four touchdowns. It was his third straight 1,000-yard season among the seasons in which he played at least 15 games. The Titans became the third franchise he has gone over 1,000 yards with, joining the Jaguars and his 2020 season with the Falcons. Personal family matters kept him away for most of 2021, followed by the gambling suspension that wiped out 2022.

By all accounts, Ridley is a good person and a great teammate. Daboll likes him a lot. Young receivers frequently bring him up as someone whose route running, and whose way of playing the position, they model their own game after.

His most visible value right now is not coming through third-down conversions or monster stat lines. I still think he can play a solid role in this offense, and that production needs to show up sooner rather than later. 

To me, it’s simple. If Ridley’s role this season is to mentor Tate, and the No. 4 overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft becomes a high-level No. 1 receiver, then I’d consider Ridley’s goal for 2026 complete and achieved.

That’s especially true considering Ridley took a pay cut to stay in Tennessee. On Aug. 1, he talked about Tate as a young player who is just the latest to say they looked up to Ridley as a young receiver. 

“Tate is very, very special kid, man. I love watching him, and I appreciate that he said that.”

Ridley is making just $5.5 million in base salary this year after a pay cut that saved the Titans roughly $8 million.

“I want to win some games with these guys,” Ridley said Aug 1 about wanting to stay in Nashville. “They’re like my little brothers, man. I like living in Nashville. It’s a very nice place to live. But I want to have fun and win some games right here. This is where I came (in 2024), and we need to get a good winning season before I check out.”

Ridley is still under contract for 2027, and he’s a couple of months away from his 32nd birthday. His value to this franchise remains. It has just changed, with his role and his salary.

The rest is up to Carnell Tate. Ridley carving out a secondary pass catching role is a needed bonus.