Overpay for Ridley but don’t exceed 3 years. Give me 3 years and $54 million. This year you have the space, next year you can clear off some flotsam like JuJu if needed for cap space, and by year 3 he becomes cuttable if he isn’t working out.
Patriots' 2024 Free Agency Thread
- Thread starter Jake Peavy's Demons
- Start date
Bosa will play the upcoming season as a 29 year old. He's got injury issues. He's missed a lot of games.
I think they should just pay him. I think it is risky, and would set a bad precedent with agents, but this is a bit of an outlier situation so I'd bite the bullet.
I am higher on Ridley than most but I don't like the idea of trading assets for a similarly skilled player who also will be expensive contractually. I'd rather just overpay Ridley and then draft a WR in the 2nd or 3rd as well.
If it were up to me, I'd actually sign both Ridley and Hollywood Brown, and still draft a WR, but I know that is a fantasy and never going to happen. Probably overkill anyway.
I am higher on Ridley than most but I don't like the idea of trading assets for a similarly skilled player who also will be expensive contractually. I'd rather just overpay Ridley and then draft a WR in the 2nd or 3rd as well.
If it were up to me, I'd actually sign both Ridley and Hollywood Brown, and still draft a WR, but I know that is a fantasy and never going to happen. Probably overkill anyway.
Not interested in Allen or Williams, both older and oft-injured. Ridley isn't that interesting either as he will be an overpay on the backend of his deal which is when NE will be competitive. He is a fit for a team ready to contend this season/next.
I think NE falls more into a 3yr window. Struggle this year, improve under 1st yr QB next and compete following season assuming strong drafts and development.
I think NE falls more into a 3yr window. Struggle this year, improve under 1st yr QB next and compete following season assuming strong drafts and development.
You could just go get Marquise Brown cheaper or Boyd likely cheaper and shorter term. My concern with Ridley is... this is his age 30 season, you're giving him at least 3 years. Based on how WRs generally age, you would expect him to be worse, maybe significantly worse each year of that deal.
Is his age mitigated somehat by the suspension? He's 30 but essentially had a year off from the wear and tear of an NFL season due to the suspension. Obviously athletes decline naturally due to age and what not but I'm curious if there's any benefit to him missing a season.
For WR... probably not? Age for WRs is more about lost explosiveness (which seemed to be an issue for him last year where he didn't get off the line as well against press/man) than the RB style just beat to death.
Sure sounds like a situation where if the money is similar, he’s staying in Jax. And I’m ok moving on if it’s gonna require an offer that materially better than the Jags’ offer.
Ridley was a 21 year old Freshman at Alabama (I'm sure there is a story here I don't know the details about). No wonder it always sounds odd to me when people say he's going to be in his age 30 season. It's more than just the 1 year suspension, he started in the NFL at age 24 and has had a pretty atypical development path.
Having said that, I tend to agree generally. I'd probably put more weight on the chronological age compared to # of snaps taken in the NFL, especially for a WR.
@RealAlexBarth
Something to keep in mind with Calvin Ridley: If the Jaguars sign him to an *extension* they owe the Falcons a 2nd round pick as part of that trade agreement. If they wait for the new league year and sign him as a "free agent" that pick becomes a 3rd.
Something to keep in mind with Calvin Ridley: If the Jaguars sign him to an *extension* they owe the Falcons a 2nd round pick as part of that trade agreement. If they wait for the new league year and sign him as a "free agent" that pick becomes a 3rd.
Well, this wouldn’t prevent a planned signing with the Jags from being reported today, right?
None of the free agents that have “signed” with new teams over the last ~24 hours are official until tomorrow either.
I can’t access the Fowler article (ESPN paywall) he references in a follow-on tweet, but, if true, what a strange compensation escalator condition.
Well, not really, the Jags could sign Ridley to an extension today because his contract hasn’t expired. The contract would expire tomorrow, which is when the 2023 league year technically ends.
Ridleys going to be a Patriot. How can anyone read any of these posts and not just see agent spin?
"Down to Pats and Jags...and a mystery third team!! Better up those offers!!"
"Down to Pats and Jags...he really wants to go back to Jacksonville. Better up that offer, Patriots!!"
Where is the money going to come from to sign Ridley?
Josh Allen has them by the balls, as they're going to have to readjust his franchise tag number into a long term contract just to get them enough money for the draft and operating money for the upcoming year. They could cut Cam Robinson and save $12M, but then they literally have NO replacement that can function at LT. Their line is horrid as it is, do they really want to lose one of the 2 functioning linemen on their roster?
And none of that touches on the fact that they just signed Gabe Davis to a contract, and he fills a similar deep threat role that Ridley filled. Or that they lost their best CB to the Rams and dont have a replacement on the roster.
Ridleys a Patriot, and all of this noise is to squeeze a better contract out of them. I hope the Patriots dont budge and they get him on a good contract.
Edit: Gabe Davis signed for $6M a year, more than half of what a lot of people were expecting. People aren't in love with the WR in free agency, especially with a deep draft. I wouldn't be shocked to see Ridleys contract come in around $10M a season.
"Down to Pats and Jags...and a mystery third team!! Better up those offers!!"
"Down to Pats and Jags...he really wants to go back to Jacksonville. Better up that offer, Patriots!!"
Where is the money going to come from to sign Ridley?
Josh Allen has them by the balls, as they're going to have to readjust his franchise tag number into a long term contract just to get them enough money for the draft and operating money for the upcoming year. They could cut Cam Robinson and save $12M, but then they literally have NO replacement that can function at LT. Their line is horrid as it is, do they really want to lose one of the 2 functioning linemen on their roster?
And none of that touches on the fact that they just signed Gabe Davis to a contract, and he fills a similar deep threat role that Ridley filled. Or that they lost their best CB to the Rams and dont have a replacement on the roster.
Ridleys a Patriot, and all of this noise is to squeeze a better contract out of them. I hope the Patriots dont budge and they get him on a good contract.
Edit: Gabe Davis signed for $6M a year, more than half of what a lot of people were expecting. People aren't in love with the WR in free agency, especially with a deep draft. I wouldn't be shocked to see Ridleys contract come in around $10M a season.
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Would there be a cap advantage to the Jags extending instead of waiting to do a new deal tomorrow? Otherwise, I can't imagine they would give up a second instead of a third.
I suppose they might want to wait until tomorrow to announce anything to avoid any kind of claim by the Falcons that they did not act in good faith.
I suppose they might want to wait until tomorrow to announce anything to avoid any kind of claim by the Falcons that they did not act in good faith.
And, tying to my above post...heres the Patriots reply through the media.
"He wants to go back to the Jaguars, up your offer New England!"
"We sent you our final offer. Are you taking it or not?"
They could extend Cam Robinson or Oluokun (or restructure Olokun), either would clear $10M+, they could cut Zay Jones and save $7M, could re-structure Kirk and save 8-12M.
They don't need to clear very much money anyway, 6-10M tops.
They will cut Zay Jones saving 7.7M against the cap. FL doesn't have income tax so NE's offer needs to be quite a bit higher to account for income and millionaire tax. FL will also likely sign Allen to a LTC reducing his cap hit for this season significantly. They have plenty of levers to accommodate signing Ridley.
yeah the more I look at it the more it seems likely their plan is... sign Ridley, cut Jones, 1 for 1 cap hit swap.
Im seeing a $6.5M dead cap hit if they cut him...guess I should check if theyve already designated 2 post june cuts.
feels very much like shopping our offer to the Jags because he doesn’t really want to go to NE.
maybe they don’t match or he is just trying to maximize his contract with the Jags
That leak is Wolf trying to pressure Ridley to sign, but Ridley would rather go to JAX, and they are asking him to wait until 4:01 tomorrow so they can be sure they won't owe a 2nd.
Just looking at the Jaguar's page on OTC, I don't think they will have much trouble doing various tricks in order to get under the cap. They have plenty of bloated shit in there to clean up.
Any time I hear that someone wants to go to Jacksonville, I immediately assume that they've never been there before.
Ridley went to college in Bama and played his NFL career in ATL then Jax. I think NE would be quite the shock to his system. Best he stay in the warm south.
I think he always wanted to be back, they always wanted him back, they told him they would either match or get close enough that taxes covered the gap to an offer he got, and in return he waits so they owe a 3rd not a 2nd.
The good news is that we'll soon be able to tell whos right, but I think you guys are nuts.
25% of Ridleys routes were deep routes, 8th most in the NFL. 32% of Davis' routes were deep routes. Second in the NFL.
So we think the Jaguars offensive game plan will be to line up two of the most efficient deep threats in the NFL...and then have Lawrence throw behind the same line that allowed the 2nd shortest time to throw in the league?
All while losing their top corner, Darious Williams, to free agency and having their second best corner, Tre Herndon, still unsigned?
Sure. I guess thats one way for a team to build a roster.
So the Davis signing was meant to be as an add on to Ridley, not as a replacement?
I didn't think that when I first saw it, but I guess maybe that's been the hope/plan all along from Jax.
you’re assuming a lot of competency from an organization that hasn’t earned it
They have a quarterback, warm weather, and no state income tax. Why would he want to come here and freeze to play with a rookie coach & QB unless the money was over the top?
My guess is the idea was to upgrade Zay Jones who they'll probably cut once Ridley is agreed.
They upgraded interior O-line and safety, they'll cut Jones to pay Ridley, still do one or more of the extend/re-structures, and work out a LTC with Allen to sign a CB (plenty still out there), and with 17 and 48 they'll be well positioned to add impact defensive players or an OT.
Most of this is moot at this point, but frankly, I don't see any landing spots in that group outside of potentially Carolina or Arizona.
Houston his Nico Collins, but he may not even be the best receiver on that team. Tank Dell is a legit fucking stud, and although he's credited for playing 11 games, he really played about 9-9.5. He didn't start week one, got hurt in week 5 after having 3 catches for 57 yards in 21 snaps. Then he came back, and got hurt early in week 12, before he had a catch. These were his stats in games he started and finished:
7-72 1td
5-145, 1td
1-16 (this was a game they blew out Pitt 30-6 and didn't need to throw)
3-16 (first game after his injury)
6-114 2tds
6-56 1td
8-149 td
5-50 1td
The Colts with Pittman, Pierce and Downs aren't adding Ridley
Green Bay, who has drafted 7 wide receivers in the last 3 years, who have all grown and built chemistry with Love as shown by their finish to this year aren't taking him.
Arizona is a disaster, don't see them bothering either, and as you note, Carolina doesn't really have the money.
There are teams that do make sense, like the Chargers, Giants, Ravens, etc., but it sounds to me that he's going to back to the Jags, which I understand. That team has to have earned some loyalty from him after sticking by him given his off field issues.
I didn't realize he was 21 as a Bama Freshman. I was wondering how the hell he was 30 already as the one year suspension definitely didn't seem like enough to get him there.
We're getting the 4-13 gang back together!
View: https://twitter.com/JFowlerESPN/status/1767636217586139269?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/JFowlerESPN/status/1767636217586139269?s=20
Its weird to say about a 4-13 team, but this is - again - another one Im ok with. As much as I'd like an impact defensive player, I think the defense was pretty good last year. I wouldn't hate to see them go after one of the better free agent corners. I also wouldn't mind seeing them go after a guy like Devin White. I'm not all that enamored with our linebackers, and if they can get good value on him - not sure after the Queen $13M price tag - I'd strongly consider it.
So, what are we going to do about LT? Unless they use #3 on an LT, it would be pretty unlikely anyone they draft would be able to come in and start, right? Or, how low can you go in the draft and still get a day 1 starting LT in the NFL? I'd think not outside the top 10, right?
The Pats got Nate Solder at pick 17 and Matt Light at pick 48. Don't recall if they were instant starters, but if they weren't they were early in their careers.
it really depends. They could get someone at 34 who can start, but I wouldn't count on it.
In terms of FA though... none of the potential LTs have signed (Smith, Williams, Becton, etc.)
It's looking like they'll scrape it together at OT, putting lots of pressure on the draft and the coaching staff. They may sign one of the Smith, Williams, Becton trio, but I kind of doubt it. Not ideal but I'm sure they are working on it.