Eagles Nearly Gambled On Trade For Calvin Ridley

Weeks before Atlanta receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season for illicit gambling, he was nearly traded. Had Atlanta not known that Ridley would soon be suspended by the league, he likely would’ve traded one bird's nest for another and flown from the Atlanta Falcons to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported on Wednesday that the deal was nearly completed, but the Falcons backed out, leaving Philly confused for a couple of weeks.

“Yup, Eagles almost had deal done for Calvin Ridley last month… Falcons backed out but weren’t able to tell Eagles why,” tweeted Glazer.

Ridley, of course, has been suspended for all of next season after the NFL discovered, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, that Ridley bet on NFL games while away from the team for a five-day period in late November 2021. The league determined that Ridley placed multi-legged parlay bets on 3, 5 and 8 games that included the Falcons to win.

Before the league handed down the punishment, Atlanta was alerted that a suspension was looming. As a result, the Falcons acted in good faith and shut down any potential trades involving Ridley.

Glazer added, “They actually handled it great and after a lot of confusion, Philly respected them for how they handled a very different situation. Eagles swung away.”

Fortunately for the Eagles, the Falcons weren’t in the mood to gamble.

Follow along on Twitter: @OhioAF