As recently as this weekend the receiver Tweeted  Madden 24 coins “football is life,” his first appearance on social media since making a statement about his leave in October. He followed by saying “I learn from my Ls” as recently as Sunday, though it’s unclear if he was made aware of the his suspension at the time.

For decades the Madden NFL 24 was free from any gambling- suspensions, but Ridley marks the second such suspension in three years. Arizona Cardinals cornerback Josh Shaw was given an indefinite suspension in 2019 for betting on games, resulting in him missing the 2020 season. Shaw was reinstated in 2021, though no team has signed him.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, numerous teams had made contact with the Falcons to discuss a potential trade for Ridley, assuming he wanted out of Atlanta. Each time inquiring parties were rebuffed, and now the future of the Falcons’ WR is in doubt.

Baker Mayfield is still available. Despite an abundance of rumors a deal was close, the Browns quarterback was not traded during the Madden NFL 24 Draft. Now, as teams progress and begin planning for the regular season we’re facing a scenario where the No. 1 pick from the 2019 Madden NFL 24 Draft will either be dealt for peanuts, or ultimately cut before training camp.

It’s left a lot of people wondering why. It wasn’t long ago that Mayfield was seen as the savior as Cleveland, the franchise quarterback who broke the drought and finally returned the Browns to prominence — now he’s being tossed out. We know this was simply a case of the team finding someone better, and taking the risk to trade for Deshaun Watson, but that doesn’t mean another QB-needy team wouldn’t benefit from Mayfield, right?

Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. There are numerous levels to the Mayfield situation that extend far beyond on-field play that are impacting the willingness for teams to trade for him. It’s why, when my team the Panthers drafted Matt Corral in the third round after being linked to a trade for Baker, I said this.

This, naturally, was met with a wide array of responses. A lot of people agreed it was the smart way to go, but a great deal of fans were upset at the suggestion that a third round rookie was preferable to a player who’s thrown for over 3,000 yards, and had a positive TD-to-INT ratio in each of his first four seasons. Let’s use this as the launching off point to explain why it’s cheap mut 24 coins  better to invest in a mid-round quarterback than trade for Mayfield right now, and why so many QB-needy teams chose to go in this direction.