FLOWERY BRANCH — Wide receiver Calvin Ridley was reinstated Monday by the NFL after his indefinite suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy.
Just hours before the trading deadline, the Falcons traded Ridley to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 1. They will now pick up the Jaguars’ fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft. It would have been a sixth-round pick if he was not reinstated.
The Falcons are also set to receive a 2024 draft pick from the Jaguars that could be a fourth-rounder. It could turn into a third-rounder based on his performance or a second-rounder if he signs a contract extension.
Ridley is set to play this season on his $11.1 million fifth-year option that he was slated to receive from the Falcons.
Ridley left the Falcons midseason in 2021 to tend to his mental health. He was suspended for betting on games during a five-day stretch in late-November 2021 when he was away from the team on the reserve/non-football illness list, according to the NFL.
Ridley was allowed to apply for reinstatement Feb. 15. He did not appeal the suspension.
Ridley was selected in the first round (26th overall) in the 2018 draft. He has 248 catches for 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns over three-plus seasons.
Ridley became the fifth player in NFL history suspended for gambling.
Over his first three seasons in the NFL, Ridley’s career arc was ahead of Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison.
Both of the slightly built receivers used crafty footwork and strong hands to make plays. Ridley caught 217 passes in his first three seasons to Harrison’s 196 and had more receiving yards (3,061 to 2,478).
But in 2021, Ridley’s fourth season, things went haywire.
Ridley’s story is a cautionary tale about gambling that was complicated by his departure from the Falcons. He played in only five games, and it was discovered later that he bet on NFL games. He was suspended indefinitely March 7, 2022.
Prohibitions against betting on NFL games by players long has been the rule. The league’s fear is that if a player gambles, he’ll go into debt, be compromised and somehow be tempted to shave a game.
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