Steven Ridley is becoming a free agent at the worst possible time. After tearing both his ACL and MCL early in the 2014 season, he was forced to sit and watch his teammates celebrate a Super Bowl Victory from the sidelines.
That check cashed all the same, but we’re guessing that champagne didn’t taste as sweet.
Now he wants to prove his worth. He’s hitting the free agent market for the first time in his career and is ready to take the most money in a gamble of a deal. ESPN’s Mike Reiss writes,
“[M]y sense on Ridley is that he’s looking for the right situation where he’ll have the best chance to maximize a one-year ‘prove-it’ type deal. So it’s not like he doesn’t have options, it’s just choosing the right option.
“That could ultimately be the Patriots, but right now, I don’t think that’s the mindset.”
The Pats would love to have him back at the right price. Despite fumbling the ball more than most Patriots players in recent history, Tom and Bill continuously called on the young man.
It’ll depend on where the money is, though, and one team I’d keep an eye on would be the Dallas Cowboys. Field Yates, also of ESPN, speculated that they should be interested due to uncertain confidence in recent addition Darren McFadden.
“Surely the offensive line play in Dallas is vastly superior to Oakland’s, but to assume McFadden can simply and smoothly transition into the Murray role would be underselling how brilliant the new Eagle was in 2014. If the team wanted to add another free agent into the mix, I think Stevan Ridley is a worthwhile investment on a one-year deal following his ACL tear last season.”
The case for choosing one back over the other is tough. On the one hand you have McFadden who has sporadically performed since entering the league, and has suffered his fair share of injuries.
The other you have Ridley, who is returning from two ligament tears in his knee, and has a history of fumbling the ball. If you put the two together behind that incredible offensive line, who knows, maybe they’d both perform.
Ultimately, Ridley is going to have to see where his market is and decide what’s important to him.