PFF: Chiefs, Bears Among Best Free Agency Fits for Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley

The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to have their hands full this offseason, with several key decisions facing them ahead of free-agency in March.

Among the most important of those decisions comes down to wide receiver Calvin Ridley. Will the Jaguars sign Ridley ahead of free-agency and risk losing a second-round pick? Will they franchise-tag him and leave themselves with limited options when it comes to Josh Allen?

Or, perhaps most likely, will they allow the chance of Ridley hitting free-agency and fielding offers from other teams?

That is the scenario PFF looked at when assessing the best free-agency fits for the top quarterbacks and wide receivers set to hit the market. Ridley, who PFF ranks as the No. 5 receiver and No. 24 player, will likely have his options if this happens. And among those options, two fits PFF thinks could make sense are the Chicago Bears and the Kansas City Chiefs.

"With D.J. Moore in place, Chicago could get two players who are interchangeable as X-receivers up on the line and as good move/Z-receivers with alignment versatility. Both can create separation vertically, but Ridley could take the top off defenses even more and let Moore utilize his high-end after-the-catch abilities at the short and intermediate levels," PFF said.

"Kansas City has shown time and time again that it isn’t going to make free agent splashes on older players, but perhaps the Chiefs buy low on a very good player who fits their play style profile as a really good separator with late hands. Every single mock draft from now until Round 1 of the 2024 Draft kicks off will have Kansas City taking one of the many great wide receivers in this class, but now picking either 31st or 32nd overall, the Chiefs address their biggest need in March and still leave the door open for a rookie."

Ridley recorded the second 1,000-yard season in his career in 2023, catching 76 passes for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns. He also made it through the entire season healthy, starting all 17 games after serving a season-long suspension in 2022.

"Calvin did some awfully good things. I love Calvin Ridley. He’s all ball. You guys and gals that were able to see it at practice, he loves to practice, he loves to play, he loves the game," Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said last week.

"When you bring somebody in that hasn’t been a part of football for over a year and a half, you’ve got to knock the rust off. He did that and at times, he showed exactly who he was, who he can be. The sky is the limit, he’s only going to get better because of the way he works. When you love something as much as he loves football, you can’t help but get better. We would love to have Calvin back and we’re going to work toward that. What that means, I don’t know right now.”