Well, you can’t say the Patriots didn’t try.
After days of negotiations and an aggressive bid for Jaguars free agent wide receiver Calvin Ridley, both New England and the Jaguars apparently ended up getting outbid for Ridley’s services.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Ridley ended up accepting a four-year, $92 million deal from the Titans that includes $50 million in guaranteed money.
Albert Breer of MMQB reported Monday night that the Patriots felt a little ‘leery’ at that point, believing that they were being used to drive up Ridley’s price tag with the Jaguars. As of just before 4pm on Tuesday, Boston Sports Journal reporter Greg Bedard reported that the Patriots had made an offer that exceeded the Jaguars, although there were apparently other reasons Ridley was reluctant.
“The Patriots have made a substantial offer to Calvin Ridley,” said Bedard during an appearance on Felger & Mazz Wednesday. “It’s a lot better than the Jaguars. But Ridley, for personal reasons, really does not want to leave Jacksonville and is hoping that they up their offer.” Bedard added that the reason was ‘indeed personal’ and didn’t contain any ulterior reason.
Instead, it ended up being the Titans who won out. That may mean that whatever personal reasons exist for Ridley to want to stay in the area may have played a factor, as Nashville is a quick flight away from Jacksonville.
For now, the Patriots will have to pick up their checkbook and consider another option as they look to bolster their receiver room. The club at least recently got Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne back in the fold, which fortunately keeps them from having a deeper hole to build from.
However, they’re still far from where they need to be and could absolutely use a more explosive player to put themselves in a better spot ahead of next month’s NFL Draft.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
