Robert Kraft Gets Honest On Why Calvin Ridley Snubbed Patriots

Calvin Ridley was probably the New England Patriots‘ top target in free agency, and the general consensus was that Ridley would either join the Patriots or return to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

However, in a surprise move, the star wide receiver opted to sign with the Tennessee Titans on a massive four-year, $92 million deal.

But apparently, money wasn’t the issue for New England.

As owner Robert Kraft tells it, there were several factors that influenced Ridley’s decision to spurn the Pats in favor of the Titans.

“It was not because of finance,” Kraft said, via NBC Sports Boston. “It was made clear that his girlfriend wanted to be in the south. We had a situation with the taxes were like almost 10 percent higher [than Tennessee], and we were willing to keep going to that premium. But he didn’t want to be in the northeast. Part of it might be the quarterback situation as well.”

So the Patriots were willing to break the bank for Ridley, but for Ridley, the list of cons of heading to New England were just too significant.

Ridley is coming off of an impressive 2023 campaign in which he caught 76 passes for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns. That was with Trevor Lawrence at quarterback in Jacksonville.

Taking that into consideration, you can understand why Ridley would not want to head to a team that has no clue who its signal-caller is going to be in 2024.

Not that Will Levis is exactly proven in Tennessee, but, at the very least, the Titans know they are rolling with him next season, and he did show some promise this past year.

Plus, the other variables on top of the Pats’ unsettled quarterback situation obviously played a crucial role in Ridley’s decision, as well.

Perhaps it won’t be the a terribly bad thing for the Patriots. That’s a whole lot of money to commit to Calvin Ridley, and New England has tons of other holes to fill on its roster.