Eagles

Eagles Reportedly “Almost Had Deal Done for Calvin Ridley”

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 11th, 2022 · 11:53 AM EST

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Let’s get it back to the Eagles. You see them slide into the news cycle last night? They dropped the Jason Kelce non-retirement announcement about an hour before the Sixers game.

Anyway, Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entirety of the 2022 season for gambling on games, but he was a rumored Eagles trade target this offseason. Fans and media speculated the Birds might move for him, and according to Jay Glazer (with Mike Garafolo adding some details), the Birds did indeed push for a Ridley trade:

Bama ties with the #Eagles (assistant coach Joe Pannunzio a big factor) had Philly confident Calvin Ridley would work well and had them at the front of the line but the #Falcons learned Calvin Ridley was in trouble. Atlanta was “awesome” with how they handled, per Eagles source. https://t.co/4UUhw6DtCj

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 10, 2022

I guess the takeaway here is that the Eagles know they need a receiver. Not exactly a surprise, but we’re not entirely sure if they were intent on making that addition via free agency, trade, or using a first round pick on a guy like Drake London or Treylon Burks. Maybe the latter is more realistic with Ridley off the table, unless they have plans for Allen Robinson or D.J. Chark or somebody like that.

Ridley only played a handful of games last year before leaving the Falcons for “personal reasons,” but he caught nine touchdown passes for 1,374 yards prior to that. He turns 28 in December, so even with the suspension it’s not like his NFL career is close to being over.

The funny thing is that he claims he only bet $1,500 total and does not have a gambling problem. That’s nothing. I’m pretty sure I lost $1,500 on Serie A alone from September to December. Lesson being, don’t gamble on a soccer league that has a history of match fixing scandals.

Go Birds.

Major NFL suspensions:

Ray Rice: beating fiancé; 2 games
Adrian Peterson: felony child abuse; 6 games
Greg Hardy: beating gf; 10 games reduced to 4
Ezekiel Elliot: hitting women; 6 games

Calvin Ridley: 17 games for using FanDuel
Josh Gordon: 6 seasons for smoking weed

— Nick Looney (@NickLooney901) March 7, 2022