The Tennessee Titans have what feels like an endless amount of new faces in the building for the 2026 NFL season. There’s one face many thought wouldn’t return, but did, in veteran wide receiver Calvin Ridley.

Ridley, who signed a four year, $92 million deal as the prized free agent in the spring of 2024, is back on a significant pay cut with the new look Titans. The 31 year old dropped his 2026 salary by $8.75 million to stay with Tennessee to make $13 million this season, most of which is fully guaranteed. It was considered a good move by both sides, because Ridley would have made less on the open market, the Titans saved over $11 million in cap space and get to keep the high end, yet volatile pass catcher around as a veteran presence.

National NFL Analyst Marcus Whitman agrees that it was a good move to keep Ridley around for young QB Cam Ward, and new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.

NFL Analyst sees Calvin Ridley in better role for Titans in 2026

Whitman recently published his “Tennessee Titans Deep Dive” on his popular YouTube channel That Franchise Guy, where he had some solid and interesting opinions on Ridley’s situation.

“(Ridley) was a cut candidate heading into the offseason. They decided to stand by him, and I’m honestly, I’m really glad they did,” Whitman said.

Whitman likes the way his role will adjust in Daboll’s offense with Wan’Dale Robinson and Carnell Tate added to the receiver room, compared to being the focal point of the passing game.

In his two Titans seasons Ridley has been up and down, to say the least. 2024 saw the Alabama product cross the 1,000 yard receiving season mark for a third NFL franchise in his career (Atlanta, Jacksonville). 2025 saw Ridley only play in five full games due to a hamstring injury and then a broken leg. In those five full games he had 15 catches for 272 yards, and 18.1 yards per catch. If we’re being transparent, that’s a 51 catch, 925 yard season in a full 17 games.

However, that’s not how Ridley’s tenure has played out.

Ridley has too many games where he doesn’t exist. In his 22 full games with the Titans he’s had eight with over 75 yards receiving, which isn’t exactly a high bar. He’s had nine games with 45 yards or less. It’s feast or famine, and not reliable production for his previous role.

“Ridley is the starting Z wide receiver here,” Whitman said. “That’s his natural role, not having to be the X, and the Z, and the focal point of your offense, and the sole player you’re depending on for a young quarterback to work out.”

“Ridley has a good release package. Hopefully, he still has some of that speed in there to stack corners on the outside. He’s a good route runner, he’s the ideal Z wide receiver, so if he can get back at least somewhat to his old self, he fills in really nicely.”

“Now, he’s a tough player to rank because he’s so inconsistent… he has really dealt with drops and is an abysmal contested catch player, but again, now when you’re in a pinch and Cam Ward’s under pressure and things aren’t going great, those contested catch, have to have it moments are going to Carnell Tate, not Calvin Ridley. I think that pressure taken off of him is going to be good.”

2026 prediction and Ridley’s future beyond this season

I very much agree with Whitman’s point about Ridley’s role with the Titans, but it is a tough projection to make with all of the mouths to feed. Robinson and Tate are high-level investments. Second year pros Elic Ayomanor and Chim Dike are really exciting young developmental players who need reps to grow. How does Ridley fit between those two duos?

“So I’m actually cautiously optimistic that Calvin Ridley is going to have a nice year, and what that means for me is… 60 catches, 750 yards, and most importantly, just kind of a quiet year.”

Where Whitman lost me is what he said about the future for Calvin in Nashville after this season. I really do like Calvin Ridley, personally. He works, trains as hard as anyone. He genuinely cares, and wants to be a great teammate and asset for the team. I’m not buying Whitman’s idea here.

“I actually think settling into a role that is much more catered to his skill set could lead to a nice kind of phasing out of the end of his career, and maybe another good year or two here in Tennessee in this role.”

Ridley’s contract has zero guaranteed money in 2027 which means the Titans can save $22.25 million on next year’s salary cap by cutting him after 2026, per Over the Cap.

You should check out Whitman’s full Titans Deep Dive, with a special guest interview with A to Z Sports’ own Easton Freeze. It’s very good.