National Football League

Report: Stevan Ridley is signing with the Jets

Published Apr. 8, 2015 8:01 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Vincent Frank

Former New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley will be playing against his old teammates this upcoming season.

NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that Ridley will be signing with the division-rival New York Jets.

Ridley, 26, was set back by a torn ACL and MCL this past season in New England, an injury which forced him to miss the final ten games of the year.

However, there’s a nice amount of upside for the Jets here. Ridley, a second-round pick in the 2011 NFL draft, put up 1,263 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns back in 2012. He followed that up by tallying 773 yards and seven scores in 2013.

With the build to be a three-down back in the NFL, Ridley joins a rather weak Jets running back corps. The team parted ways with Chris Johnson back in February, and really doesn’t have anyone to shoulder the load. Chris Ivory put up 821 yards and averaged 4.1 yards per attempt in 2014. Meanwhile, Bilal Powell did nothing of consequence on the field, netting just 141 yards on 33 carries.

Signing Ridley doesn’t necessarily mean the Jets are prepared to avoid taking a running back in the upcoming draft. It just gives new head coach Todd Bowles and company a viable veteran option on the roster.

Terms of the deal are not yet known.

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