Atlanta Falcons could be getting an extra fifth-round pick soon

Calvin Ridley’s tenure with the Atlanta Falcons came to a strange conclusion over the past couple of years. Going into 2021 he was predicted to be the team’s number-one receiver but ended up struggling until he took a break from football for the remainder of the season.

Fast forward to the 2022 offseason and it came out that Ridley was indefinitely suspended for gambling on games. The Falcons ended up trading him this past November for a couple of conditional draft picks—the first one being in the upcoming draft and it will likely go from a sixth-round pick to a fifth-round pick soon.

Calvin Ridley applies for reinstatement which means the Atlanta Falcons could get a fifth-round pick

There were a lot of parts to the deal that sent Calvin Ridley from the Atlanta Falcons to the Jacksonville Jaguars as it was a very strange situation. Technically, the Jags were trading for a player who was banned from the league.

The Jags wanted to make sure they weren’t giving up too much for the receiver if he never played again, while the Falcons wanted to ensure they would get significant compensation if he becomes the player we were so used to seeing in years past. So, that resulted in a 2023 sixth-round pick that could become a fifth-round pick if Ridley gets reinstated soon. Plus another pick in 2024 which we will cover briefly at the end.

The date has come when Ridley is able to ask for the league’s forgiveness. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t waste much time by doing such.

This is good news for all sides; the Falcons could be essentially trading up a round in the 2023 draft (while also being one step closer to a better draft pick in 2024), the Jaguars could be getting a Pro Bowl receiver for Trevor Lawrence, and Calvin Ridley could finally get back on the field and earn some money again.

It is likely, by my estimation, that the NFL will allow him to return to the league. There have been far worse scenarios of players having their indefinite suspension lifted. Ridley didn’t injure anyone like other players who returned to the NFL.

The NFL should be laughing at it at this point, he bet against the team that he now plays for, it’s so ironic. But the league will do anything to uphold the ‘integrity’ of the game.

Anyways, the 2024 draft pick could be a second, third, or fourth-round pick. assuming he gets reinstated. Next year’s pick will become a third-rounder if he hits certain “incentives,” or a second-round pick if he signs a contract extension with Jaguars (fingers crossed he has a big year).

For now, though, let’s just pull for him to be allowed back into the National Football League as it will be one step closer to getting maximum compensation for the former first-round pick.