The New England Patriots made a “competitive” offer for Calvin Ridley, but couldn’t land the high-profile wide receiver.
Ridley is signing a four-year, $92 million deal with the Tennessee Titans that has $50 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network. The Patriots and Jaguars were thought to be the two finalists for the 29-year-old wideout’s services, but clearly the Titans were lurking in the shadows.
Easily the most talented wideout on the free-agent market, Ridley was an attractive option for the Patriots given de facto GM Eliot Wolf’s desire to “weaponize” the offense. It remains to be seen how they’ll pivot from here.
New England could look to another free agent such as Marquise “Hollywood” Brown or Mike Williams, who was released Wednesday by the Chargers. Or they could try to address their need for a true No. 1 wide receiver via trade. Tee Higgins has requested to be moved in Cincinnati, while Brandon Aiyuk is entering his last year in San Francisco.
The Patriots also could seek to upgrade at next month’s NFL Draft, where they own pick No. 3 overall and No. 34 in the second round. No matter the avenue, the Patriots needs reinforcements. They currently have Kendrick Bourne, Pop Douglas, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Kayshon Boutte and Jalen Reagor under contract.
CHARGERS: Los Angeles released wide receiver Mike Williams, a move that will free up $20 million in salary cap space.
Williams, the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, was going into the final year of a 2022 contract extension worth $60 million that included $40 million guaranteed.
He played in only three games last season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during a Sept. 24 game at Minnesota. Williams missed four regular-season games in 2022 because of an ankle injury and then was sidelined for a playoff game at Jacksonville after a back injury in the regular-season finale at Denver.
Williams has 22 receptions of at least 40 yards since 2019, tied for fifth in the AFC. His best season was 2021, when he had 76 receptions for 1,146 yards and nine touchdowns. He had 309 catches for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns during his seven seasons in powder blue.
• Khalil Mack – fourth in the league last season with a career-high 17 sacks – agreed to restructure his contract with the Chargers.
DOLPHINS: Miami released cornerback Xavien Howard, parting with their longest-tenured player.
Howard had 331 tackles and 95 passes deflected in eight seasons with the Dolphins, who selected him at No. 38 in the 2016 NFL draft. The 30-year-old Howard is a four-time Pro Bowler and was a first-team All-Pro in 2020.
RAIDERS: Las Vegas kicked off the start of the new league year by releasing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and receiver Hunter Renfrow to give the new regime more room to operate under the salary cap.
The Raiders also released backup quarterback Brian Hoyer and defensive tackle Jerry Tillery, just minutes after the start of the 2024 league year.
COMMANDERS: Six-time All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner agreed to join Washington, according to two people familiar with the deal. One person confirmed it’s a one-year contract worth up to $8.5 million with $6 million in guaranteed money.
• Washington agreed to a two-year contract with safety and 2022 All-Pro special teams player Jeremy Reaves, according to a person familiar with the deal.
CHIEFS: Kansas City restructured quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract, according to a person familiar with the decision, giving the Super Bowl champions some much-needed salary cap space.
By restructuring the contract, which would have counted more than $58 million against the cap for the upcoming season, the Chiefs created more than $21 million to use elsewhere. That could include a much-publicized pursuit of help at wide receiver, their need for a new left tackle to protect Mahomes’ blind side, or in re-signing their own free agents.
COWBOYS: The defamation lawsuit filed by a woman who says Jerry Jones is her biological father, alleging the Dallas Cowboys owner and his associates worked to portray her in the public as an “extortionist,” was dismissed by a judge.
The lawsuit sought a multimillion dollar payout.
Alexandra Davis, a 27-year-old congressional aide, said in the lawsuit that Jones and his team of lawyers and media and marketing professionals concocted a plan to destroy her reputation by publicly attacking her as a “shakedown artist” motivated by greed and money.
• Prosper (Texas) police are investigating claims that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott says he is being extorted, an official confirmed Wednesday to The Dallas Morning News.
Prescott filed a lawsuit Monday in Collin County accusing a Fort Worth woman of making a false sexual assault allegation in an attempt to extort $100 million from him.
49ERS: San Francisco added more help to their defensive line, agreeing to acquire defensive tackle Maliek Collins in a trade from Houston for a seventh-round draft pick.
A person familiar with the trade said the Niners will acquire Collins pending a physical.
BUCCANEERS: Safety Jordan Whitehead and Tampa Bay agreed on a two-year, $9 million contract worth up to $10.5 million.
Whitehead, 27, returns to Tampa Bay after spending the past two seasons with the New York Jets. He was a fourth-round draft pick in 2018 and was a starter on the Bucs defense that helped Tom Brady win the Super Bowl during the 2020 season.
JETS: The New York Jets are acquiring offensive tackle Morgan Moses from the Baltimore Ravens in a trade that includes draft picks for both teams, according to a person familiar with the deal.
The Jets will also receive the Ravens’ fourth-round pick (No. 134 overall) and New York will send its fourth-rounder (No. 112) and a sixth-rounder to Baltimore.
BILLS: Buffalo agreed to sign free-agent receiver Mack Hollins.
Hollins has seven seasons of NFL experience, with his most productive year coming in 2021 when he had 57 catches for 690 yards and four touchdowns with the Las Vegas Raiders. The 30-year-old Hollins spent last season in Atlanta, where he had 18 catches for 251 yards for the run-focused Falcons.
JAGUARS: Jacksonville receiver Zay Jones is no longer facing a domestic battery charge after the state attorney’s office in Florida dropped the misdemeanor Tuesday, saying it “declines to prosecute this defendant for these charges.” Jones had been scheduled for arraignment Wednesday.
Jones got into a custody argument with the mother of his child in mid-November and left fingernail scratches on her neck, according to police. Parts of the report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office were redacted.
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