The New England Patriots‘ offseason will once again feature a lot of turnover, but it’ll look more like last year than the previous year. Expect a few departures but mostly positive additions, one of which should feature a No. 1 receiver.
There is one issue, however. The Patriots don’t have a lot of money to spend ($26.6 million, to be exact) after going on a free agent spree last year. Unless they shed a number of higher salaries, it’ll be hard to sign guys like Davante Adams and Mike Williams, both of whom will be available on the open market.
So why not explore the trade market? Luckily for the Pats, reports from last week indicated that the Atlanta Falcons and wide receiver Calvin Ridley were expected to part ways after the 2021 season. The former Alabama star has one year remaining on his rookie deal that will pay him $11.1 million.
Maybe a trade and an extension? Ridley’s value isn’t exactly sky-high after he played only five games this year after deciding to take the rest of the season off to focus on his mental health. The Patriots aren’t going to have to overspend with assets here. And they even have some players on the current roster that might satisfy the Falcons’ asking price.
So what’ll it take?
These 3 trade packages could bring Calvin Ridley to the Patriots.
3. Michael Onwenu Straight up for Calvin Ridley
Outsiders will laugh at this one, especially because Onwenu has lost playing time to Trent Brown’s return, but last season the former Michigan offensive lineman was viewed as the steal of the 2020 NFL Draft. Taken in the sixth round, Onwenu made an immediate impact on the Patriots’ front and was able to play multiple positions.
It’s unclear why New England felt the need to further upgrade with Brown and then use Ted Karras more on the inside, but that’s what happened. Since Week 10, Onwenu has been deemphasized, but he’s admirably filling a backup role on the O-line.
He very much a starter, though. And the Falcons can further bolster their offensive line by acquiring him, especially if the Patriots decide to retain both Brown and Karras, which they likely will. Even better for Atlanta is that Onwenu has two very cost-efficient years remaining on his rookie contract, which will greatly help their cap space situation (they’re somehow $27 million in the red!).
Nonetheless, this is our first proposal because non-Patriots fans will laugh at it since they don’t know much about Onwenu and his size/impact along the offensive line.
2. Second-Round Pick in 2022 and Third-Round Pick 2023 for Calvin Ridley
OK, since the Patriots can’t use high draft picks on wide receivers (it never works out or they just refuse to do it), they might as well trade said selections for proven wide receiver talent. Ridley, the former 26th overall pick back in 2018, has made an unmistakable impact since arriving in the NFL and managed to do so without Julio Jones for much of 2020. It’s evident he can create space and make plays without another top name stealing the focus of the opposing defense.
So, assuming the Patriots plan to sign Ridley beyond 2022, don’t you think a second-rounder in 2022 and a third-rounder in 2023 is fair? If the Falcons plan to rebuild (what are they doing?) the more picks in the next few years will go a long way in solving their problems.
Ridley just isn’t going to command a first-rounder unless another team wildly out-bids the pack. He’ll have played in just 20 games over the last two years heading into 2022 and there are some question marks regarding his future with the way he stepped away from the game in 2021.
The Patriots will have to be tasked with extending him should they finalize a trade, assuming they want Ridley to be a part of their future, which will be another layer to this process.
If second- and third-round picks don’t do it, then Belichick should be fine walking away from negotiations. Ridley is a special talent, but with only one guaranteed year remaining and one 1,000-yard season under his belt, it’s hard to take much more of a risk than that.
1. JC Jackson (via sign-and-trade) for Calvin Ridley
The Patriots missed out on acquiring more talent at this year’s trade deadline, but now it’s possible they’re better positioned to make something happen in that space because of the existing talent on the roster.
This might be an intriguing scenario to consider, and it’d no doubt help both teams. With Ridley entering the final year of his rookie contract and JC Jackson entering what’s expected to be a wealthy offseason, maybe we can see a one-of-a-kind deal here.
If the Patriots aren’t going to re-sign Jackson and if the Falcons are parting with Ridley, why not talk about working out a trade that requires both star players to sign big contracts with their new teams? We’re sure Atlanta would love to add a turnover machine in Jackson (though they’d really have to figure out their cap situation, like we mentioned earlier) and the Patriots would prefer to guarantee Ridley remains in New England alongside Jones for longer than a year.
You might argue Jackson is a more valuable player than Ridley, and you’d probably be right, but in this scenario, assuming Belichick isn’t willing to make Jackson one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the game, the Pats would be getting a talent in Ridley for essentially nothing since Jackson is set to be an unrestricted free agent. New England can slap the franchise tag on Jackson and work out a deal with the Falcons that includes Jackson agreeing to a long-term contract, and they can re-work the financials to backload the deal given their troublesome fiscal outlook for the near future.
One more weapon for Mac Jones can make this offense a serious threat. It just depends how far the Patriots are willing to go to make it happen if Ridley is of interest.
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