NFL officially reinstates Jacksonville Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley: 3 immediate takeaways

3. Jacksonville Jaguars GM Trent Baalke works his magic once again

As recently as last year, general manager Trent Baalke was a persona non-grata in Jacksonville and across the league. Fans wanted the Jaguars to move on from him, fair or not, after the short-lived Urban Meyer era. They went as far as to show up at TIAA Bank Field in full clown gear, letting the organization know how they felt about Baalke.

Things didn’t get much better when the news broke that the embattled general manager was the reason then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich didn’t want to be the Jaguars’ head coach. But in spite of the pressure, owner Shan Khan remained unfazed and kept Baalke, saying he wanted the right people to help him turn things around.

That wasn’t the end of it though. Baalke earned plenty of scrutiny from his peers after giving Zay Jones and Christian Kirk top-market contracts. In spite of the criticism, both Jones and Kirk went on to post career numbers in 2022, vindicating the general manager’s decision to sign them.

John Shipley of Sports Illustrated spoke to some league executives and coaches at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine and said that they all had a positive opinion of Baalke. Following Ridley’s reinstatement, his reputation should get a significant boost. After all, he’s done a great job of restocking the Jaguars’ roster the last two years.

Besides Trevor Lawrence, Baalke drafted running back Travis Etienne, offensive tackle Walker Little, cornerback Tyson Campbell and safety Andre Cisco, all of whom filled pivotal roles last season. In hindsight, Shad Khan made the right choice when he decide to stick with Baalke around.