Trevor Lawrence: ‘It’ll only get better’ if Calvin Ridley returns

In Calvin Ridley’s first season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he caught 76 passes for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns. That’s an impressive stat line until you consider that he was targeted 136 times, credited with a team-leading seven drops by PFF, and finished nine games with 40 receiving yards or fewer.

So now what?

Ridley is set to become a free agent next month and, while both the receiver and general manager Trent Baalke have expressed interest in a new contract in Jacksonville, the decision isn’t an easy one.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is hopeful the team will find a way to keep Ridley, though.

“We’ve built a good relationship over the past year,” Lawrence told USA Today’s Tony Anderson last week. “We took some big strides this year and I know another year playing together, it’s only going to get better. And you got to think about it too, he’s been out for two years; this was his first year back and I thought he did some really great things. He got better every game as the season went on. Our chemistry grew.

“So many good things to build on. Just to know that we can be a lot better too is encouraging. I’m hoping that we can get him back and just keep building on what we were able to start this year.”

The Jaguars owe the Atlanta Falcons a 2024 third-round pick, at minimum, as part of the 2022 trade to acquire Ridley. If Jacksonville re-signs the receiver before free agency begins on March 13, it’ll instead be a second-rounder headed to Atlanta.

That complicates an already tricky situation for the Jaguars to navigate with pass rusher Josh Allen likely to receive the franchise tag, removing another avenue to keep Ridley.