Calvin Ridley just robbed the Tennessee Titans blind
There's a tendency to overpay in free agency, but man, did the Tennessee Titans just overpay for veteran wideout Calvin Ridley. The Titans inked Ridley to a four-year, $92 million deal on Wednesday, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. He is the NFL's ninth-highest paid receiver, thanks to his $23 million per year average. The $50M guaranteed […]
There's a tendency to overpay in free agency, but man, did the Tennessee Titans just overpay for veteran wideout Calvin Ridley.
The Titans inked Ridley to a four-year, $92 million deal on Wednesday, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. He is the NFL's ninth-highest paid receiver, thanks to his $23 million per year average. The $50M guaranteed is 10th-most at his position.
The problem is Ridley is nowhere near worthy of his newly-gained top-10 payment status
Nothing about Ridley's overall résumé even gets close to sniffing top-10 payment status.
In terms of raw numbers, since 2018, Ridley ranks 25th in receiving yards with 4,358, 27th in receptions with 324, 13th in receiving touchdowns with 36, and 24th in success rate among the top-32 targeted receivers. Sure, he missed a season, but the success rate really quantifies his efficiency as a receiver and he missed that season because he, himself, violated the NFL's gambling policy.
And in one last advanced stat that matters: Pro Football Focus, his 1.57 yards per route run ranked 28th out of 32 qualifying receivers with at least 100 targets on the year.
We projected Ridley's contract to be worth $20.0M per year with $27.5M guaranteed and PFF's expert, Brad Spielberger projected an $18.5M per year deal with $32.5M guaranteed – again, nowhere near the $23M per year average and $50M guaranteed the Titans gave Ridley. It's a wild overpay.
Final word
The only good part about this move is it's another step toward helping Will Levis. Ultimately, the Titans will get lucky to receive the true value they deserve with this deal. Ridley's résumé just isn't there to warrant this deal, at this point.
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