The New England Patriots have a lot on their to-do list this offseason, including a need for help in their wide receiver room. While veterans like Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins are solid, and Kyle Williams has time to grow, the 2025 season showed that the Patriots can't rely on the same names every week and that more help is needed.
That's why the Patriots will be tracking which wideouts will be hitting the open market in free agency next month. NFL analyst Kyle Dvorchak of NBC Sports pointed out that Tennessee Titans WR Calvin Ridley could be another name to join the list of available players, even though he's currently under contract.
"In 2025, he managed just 303 yards in seven games. A hamstring issue cost him time early in the year, while a broken leg ended his season in Week 11," Dvorchak wrote. "Ridley never appeared to be on the same page as rookie quarterback Cam Ward, and now the new coaching staff has no ties to the veteran wideout."
Although a split isn't guaranteed, the Patriots have every reason to monitor Ridley's status on the off-chance that he'll be available next month.
Calvin Ridley Would Be the Idea Patriots Offseason Addition
According to OverTheCap, the Patriots will have $40.5 million in available cap space, so they might be tempted to go after a bigger fish. At the same time, history has proven that New England doesn't need the biggest names to improve the passing attack.
The Pats rolled the dice on two older guys like Diggs and Hollins last season, and they both had solid seasons. Even if they part ways with Diggs after his no-show in the playoffs, they could take the same approach with a former underrated star like Ridley.
Ridley is an experienced playmaker with three 1,000-yard campaigns and an All-Pro second-team nod under his belt. Although injuries prevented him from achieving similar heights in 2025, he still averaged 43.3 receiving yards per game and a career-high 17.8 yards per catch, which would've put him on pace for over 730 yards in 17 games.
Although the Patriots had three 500-yard receivers in 2025, Diggs was the only one to exceed 600 yards (1,013), making it easy to see why fans would welcome a WR2 like Ridley to the fold.
The Titans would save $18.7 million in cap space by designating Ridley for a June 1 release, per Spotrac. He's a survivor of the previous regime, so new head coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll might not feel like he's the best fit for their vision.
The Patriots are clearly ahead of schedule in their rebuild. Easy schedule or not, not many people saw them reaching the Super Bowl in the second year of the Drake Maye era. Now, they'll face a first-place schedule, and even if the AFC East isn't as competitive as other divisions, they still have to address some of their flaws.
The Patriots desperately need to bolster the offensive line and improve their pass-rush department, and rolling the dice on an affordable, high-reward option like Ridley would help. That's why de facto general manager Eliot Wolf can't think twice if the 31-year-old playmaker hits the open market next month.