BREAKING: Falcons Ex Calvin Ridley Reinstated; Set to Return to Jaguars in 2023
Former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley is back in the NFL.
The league announced today that Ridley's reinstatement application was approved after being suspended for the entire 2022 season due to violating the league's policy on gambling.
The 28-year-old Ridley bet money on several games, including the Falcons, during his mental health absence.
A first-round pick by the Falcons in 2018, Ridley caught 248 passes for 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns across 49 games. He earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2020 after racking up 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns as a third-year player.
Entering his fourth season, Ridley was viewed as one of the premiere wideouts in the league, but he never seemed comfortable in new coach Arthur Smith's offense and then had his year come to an end after just five games.
Neither the Falcons nor Ridley seemed destined to reunite, and Atlanta split all ties with the former Alabama star by trading him to the Jacksonville Jaguars on deadline day last November.
In return, Atlanta received a 2023 sixth-round pick that, that is now a fifth-round pick, after reinstatement. The Falcons also received a 2024 fourth-round pick that could become as high as a second-round pick if certain statistical and/or contractual incentives are reached.
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