The Buffalo Bills were rumored to be close in finalizing a trade deal for wide receiver Calvin Ridley, but it’s assumed negotiations with the Tennessee Titans fell through at the 2025 NFL trade deadline. It’s an interesting development, if true.
It would also have been an exceedingly difficult financial situation for general manager Brandon Beane to maneuver and fit into Buffalo’s current salary cap situation. The 30-year-old Ridley signed a four-year, $92 million ($50 million guaranteed) free-agent
contract with the Titans in March of 2024. Now in the second year of that deal, Ridley’s cap hit for 2025 is just over $28 million — and the highest figure of any year on the contract. His base salary in 2025 is nearly $22.5 million this season alone.
The Bills have just a few million available in cap space, which was probably the biggest roadblock in this rumored trade. Unless the Titans were willing to give cash considerations and absorb a significant portion of Ridley’s figure this year, it’s essentially a nonstarter.
Brandon Beane has never been shy about calling to check on players who might be available, and Tennessee is a team heading in the wrong direction for a 30-year-old highly paid wide receiver to remain content. Buffalo has an obvious need for wide receiver help on the boundary, something Ridley would potentially help remedy.
Ridley entered the NFL as a first-round pick with the Atlanta Falcons, chosen 26th overall in 2018 NFL Draft. The Falcons exercised Ridley’s fifth-year option in 2021 only to see him suspended for the entire 2022 NFL season due to league gambling violations. In four seasons played with the Falcons, Ridley totaled 248 receptions (380 targets) for 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns, eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark in 2020.
Ridley became an unrestricted free agent in 2023, signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars. His one season with Jacksonville saw him return to form in catching 76 passes (136 targets) for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns.
After a year with the Jaguars, Ridley was once again an unrestricted free agent, at which point he cashed in with his current Titans deal. Ridley had a statistically similar campaign with Tennessee in 2024, catching 64 passes (120 targets) for 1,017 yards and four touchdowns. In six games with the Titans in 2025, Ridley has caught 16 passes (35 targets) for 290 yards.
(Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference)
