Falcons Trade Rumors: Did Calvin Ridley Just Name His Future Team?
We try to be careful to not put too much stock into what is said and done on social media; Twitter does not represent the real world and "likes and retweets'' don't necessarily indicate anything real, either.
But ...
Calvin Ridley, largely quiet since taking his leave from the Atlanta Falcons this year while citing mental health concerns, just favorited a tweet.
Does that action have any special depth? No. But it is Ridley moving a muscle to take some action - even if the muscle he moved is just in a finger.
A tweet read, “I really hope the Miami Dolphins get Calvin Ridley.”
This is innocuous enough, and could have remained that way ...
Until Ridley opted to move that finger ...
It seems 2020 leading receiver Ridley undid his button-push moments later - but not soon enough for Falcons fans to notice.
Is Ridley - who grew up in Florida - plotting a move to the Miami Dolphins? And if he is, well, what happened to the mental health concerns? Is everything suddenly OK?
Will everything suddenly be OK once he's dealt to the Dolphins?
Pardon our cynicism, and we have no intention of making light of a very serious issue. But if Ridley is healthy enough to envision himself playing for the Dolphins, shouldn't he envision himself being healthy enough to get with his bosses, Atlanta general manager Terry Fontenot and coach Arthur Smith, and maybe get to work?
"Well, it really hasn't changed," said Fontenot recently of the Ridley situation. "As an organization, we've done the best job we could to just support Calvin and do everything we can for him. I know he made the statement when he did, and we made a statement during the season as well. Really up to this point nothing's changed with that.”
We speculated in November based on the comments and actions of the Falcons that they didn't expect Ridley to return in 2021.
He did not return.
We are now on the cusp of Ridley and the Falcons and potential suitors needing to figure out the future.
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Should Ridley return to football, a fresh start may be in his and the Falcons' best interest. Ridley will turn 28 during the season next year, and after a year away from football for non-injury related reasons, it remains to be seen what his trade value might be.
And it remains to be seen whether Calvin Ridley is ready to play football ... or just play on social media.
