We’re on the brink of the start of the new NFL league year, and what was a thin wide-receiver market in free agency quickly got thinner with the signing of Mike Evans in Tampa Bay and the franchise-tagging of the Bengals’ Tee Higgins and the Colts’ Michael Pittman. For a team desperate to add a top-shelf receiver as it tries to sort out its quarterback situation, the lone option available on the market is Calvin Ridley of the Jaguars.

It can be debated whether Ridley qualifies as a No. 1 receiver, after a year in which he totaled 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns and was rated the No. 47 overall receiver in the league with a 71.4 grade from Pro Football Focus. But, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Patriots are making a hard push for Ridley after missing out on a trade for Denver’s Jerry Jeudy.

“Expect the Patriots to swing big on receiver Calvin Ridley,” Fowler wrote on Sunday. “The Jaguars are very interested in keeping Ridley but haven’t been able to close the deal. The Patriots were in on Jerry Jeudy before the receiver was traded to Cleveland, but they wanted to wait until free agency before committing to a receiver, likely because they have their eyes on a few.”

Patriots Badly Need Receiver Help

It could behoove the Patriots to wait and see if a trade market develops for other receivers, especially for Higgins, but also for the likes of A.J. Brown in Philadelphia and Brandon Aiyuk in San Francisco. If the Patriots opt to do that, though, they could miss out on Ridley, who is considered likely to return to the Jaguars. In that case, the Patriots would come out of the pre-draft period without a new receiver at all.

That is untenable, considering the state of the Patriots’ receiver room these days.

The primary veteran signees of the last few years—DeVante Parker and Juju Smith-Schuster—have been massive busts. Solid No. 2 option Kendrick Bourne is a free agent and Demario Douglas showed serious potential as a slot option as a rookie, but is not an outside No. 1 threat.

Bourne, who played only eight games before tearing his ACL, was still No. 2 among the team’s receivers in catches (37) and yards (406). Again, he played less than half a season.

Calvin Ridley Put Gambling Suspension Behind Him

Ridley comes with some baggage, but most of it seems to be behind him now. He did have a season in which he racked up 1,374 yards for the Falcons back in 2020 before returning to the 1,000-yard club last year.

The time between those seasons is cause for some concern. Ridley took time away from the game in 2021 for mental health reasons, and while he was sitting out, he got hooked on placing bets on NFL and NBA games, including bets on the Falcons. He was caught and was suspended for all of the 2022 season, during which he was traded from Atlanta to Jacksonville.

Ridley later admitted and took ownership for the gambling and has spoken out to help other players avoid his own pitfalls. If there are still concerns about the gambling, they seem to be mostly diminished.

Ridley won’t come cheap, but the Patriots do have plenty of money, about $100 million entering the offseason. Spotrac projects Ridley getting $17 million per year, on a four-year, $70 million deal, while Pro Football Focus has him at $18.5 million per year with a three-year, $55.5 million deal.