The Pursuit and Acquisition of Calvin Ridley Moved So Quickly, Even the Titans Owner Was Surprised

Tennessee Titans GM Ran Carthon first saw Calvin Ridley a year before when he was working out with Deebo Samuel and DeAndre Hopkins, whom the Titans would sign. Even though Ridley had been away from the NFL for more than a year, the other players, some of them All-Pros, were stealing his tricks.

Tennessee Titans newly signed free agent wide receiver Calvin Ridley fields questions during his / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA

NASHVILLE — One day, Calvin Ridley was a pipe dream. The next day, he was a Tennessee Titan. General manager Ran Carthon on Tuesday revealed that the team acted so quickly to sign the free-agent wide receiver that even owner Amy Adams Strunk was caught off guard.

But the Ridley story, Carthon said in a press conference to discuss free agency, actually had its origin a year before, in the 2023 offseason.

"I had a moment ... in our courtship of Hop (DeAndre Hopkins)," Carthon said. "A bunch of those guys were out in Arizona working out, and it was Ridley, it was Deebo Samuel, and it was D-Hop. And the consistent thing you heard out of Arizona was everybody was stealing tricks from Calvin. A guy who had been out a year and everybody was talking about how legit that he looks, and these were All-Pro players who said they taking tools out of his bag to help their game.

"To actually have the opportunity to even consider him (this offseason) was something that we had a part of our plan, but in our mind, really, it was more of a pipe dream," Carthon said. "Can we afford these guys and get Ridley?"

Carthon said the initial conversations he had with (assistant general manager Chad) Brinker weren't optimistic, but the two agreed to discuss it further the next day. Carthon spoke to Callahan that same night and then he called Strunk to keep her in the loop. "(Then) we came in the next morning and everybody kinda had that look: Let's do it. And we did. We pulled it off."

After reaching agreement with Ridley on a four-year, $92-million deal, "We're in the office, we're having a moment," Carthon said. "And this particular moment, it was myself, it was Chad, it was [head coach Brian Callahan] and [Titans offensive coordinator] Nick Holz. So we're high-fiving and bro-hugging and doing all of that. So we're like, 'Hey, let's get Calvin [Ridley] on the phone. Let's congratulate him.'"

They called Ridley on FaceTime. Within 90 seconds, Carthon also got a call from Strunk, asking if the team had signed the 1,000-yard receiver.

"I pick up the phone and she’s like, ‘Is this true?’" Carthon said. "And I’m like, ‘Is what true?’ And she was like, ‘Did we just get Calvin Ridley?’ And I’m like, what the hell, is it out already? We’re on the phone with him right now congratulating him.”

Good news traveled fast.

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