{"id":106379,"date":"2026-01-22T12:16:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/?p=106379"},"modified":"2026-01-22T10:02:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T15:02:53","slug":"titans-weigh-ridleys-future-as-contract-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/titans-weigh-ridleys-future-as-contract-looms\/106379\/","title":{"rendered":"Titans weigh Ridley\u2019s future as contract looms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex flex-col text-sm pb-25\">\n<article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&:has([data-writing-block])>*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:80212e28-c322-487a-9267-01e99aaf8551-22\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-22\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"a304c03a-75c8-4f34-8e85-3ce11392b438\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-mini\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[1px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word dark markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"48\" data-end=\"353\">The Tennessee Titans have a young and talented offensive group, but Calvin Ridley\u2019s future with the team is uncertain. He carries the biggest contract on the roster, and as the team looks for a new head coach and tries to build the best team around quarterback Cam Ward, it\u2019s unclear how Ridley fits in.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"355\" data-end=\"830\">ESPN\u2019s Bill Barnwell named Ridley as a potential cut candidate, but he says the situation is more complicated. Ridley\u2019s $21.8 million salary for 2026 is mostly not guaranteed\u2014only $3 million is locked in. The executives who signed that deal are no longer with the team, which gives Tennessee leverage if they want him to take a pay cut. Ridley likely wouldn\u2019t earn that full amount in free agency anyway, so staying with the Titans at a lower rate could be his best option.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"832\" data-end=\"1027\">Injuries have also affected Ridley. He suffered a fractured fibula during the 2025 season. Despite that, he averaged about two yards per route run, showing he can still contribute when healthy.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1029\" data-end=\"1302\">The Titans also have promising young wide receivers like Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike. The team may not want to slow their development by keeping Ridley in a key role. However, if he can be kept at a more reasonable cost, he could still help Ward grow as a quarterback.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1304\" data-end=\"1543\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Barnwell notes that Ridley has a $1 million bonus due in mid-March, which will likely push the Titans to decide on his future quickly. He expects the team to try to negotiate a friendlier contract for 2026 rather than cutting him outright.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Tennessee Titans have a young and talented offensive group, but Calvin Ridley\u2019s future with the team is uncertain. He\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":106380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[35127,29082],"class_list":["post-106379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-football","tag-calvin-ridley","tag-titans"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}