Kraft gives odd answer on why Calvin Ridley didn’t sign with Patriots originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
If you ask Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots’ failure to sign Calvin Ridley in free agency wasn’t due to a lack of trying.
Ridley signed a lucrative four-year contract worth $92 million with the Tennessee Titans earlier this month as one of the top wide receivers in free agency. According to reports, the Patriots made a very competitive offer to Ridley — roughly $22 million per year — that ultimately fell short to the Titans’ $23 million-per-year offer.
Kraft suggested there were other factors involved in Ridley choosing Tennessee over New England, though.
“There was one outstanding receiver that unfortunately we couldn’t close,” Kraft told reporters Tuesday morning at the NFL’s Annual League Meeting in Orlando. “It was not because of finance. It was made clear his girlfriend wanted to be in the South, and we had a situation where the taxes were like almost 10 percent higher (in Massachusetts). “And we offered and were willing to keep going to that premium, but he didn’t want to be in the Northeast. Part of it might be the quarterback situation as well.”
Check out the video above for Kraft’s full comments on Ridley.
While Ridley indeed may have preferred to live in the South instead of the Northeast — the 29-year-old is a Florida native who played his college ball at Alabama before NFL stops in Alabama and Jacksonville — it’s a bit strange that Kraft would cite Ridley’s girlfriend as one of the reasons the wideout didn’t choose the Patriots.
As our Tom E. Curran pointed out, Kraft admitting Ridley may not have been keen on New England’s “quarterback situation” is a bit more telling.
Asked about free agency swings and misses, Robert Kraft mentions Calvin Ridley’s girlfriend wasn’t keen on moving to NE.
Also notes that the absence of a QB was also a factor.
I’m gonna venture the latter reason was probably a bigger issue….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kraft-gives-odd-answer-why-140909041.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-03-26 14:09:09
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