Jordan Ridley's ’strange’ contract extension still haunting Essendon on eve of AFL season

AFL powerhouse Essendon have again been cruelly reminded of the “bizarre” deal they handed to star defender Jordan Ridley.

Ridley, 26, can’t catch a break and finds himself battling injury, again, as he heads into the 2025 AFL season.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: More bad news for cursed Bomber, major blow for Saints.

7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary has revealed that Ridley is now dealing with a hamstring issue, just after he returned from Qatar to get his body right and and fix his quad injury.

“He’ll miss Essendon’s first hit-out of the summer against the Bulldogs on Feb 15,” Cleary said.

“The aim is to have him back for the clash against Geelong on February 25.

“Untimely after he visited Qatar for injury treatment in the off-season.”

Upon seeing the news, expert commentator Kane Cornes was quick to react, immediately reminding AFL fans — and the club — of Ridley’s three-year contract extension that he was gifted at the start of the 2024 season.

“Not surprising #2029,” Cornes wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Cornes also resurfaced comments from four months ago, where he highlighted “the 10 worst contracts in the AFL right now”.

Cornes believed Ridley’s contract was the fourth worst, only beaten by the mega-deals handed to Fremantle’s Sean Darcy, Western Bulldogs’ Aaron Naughton, and Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver.

”Number four is strange, but it’s Jordan Ridley because of the way that this was handled,” Cornes said when ranking the worst contracts.

“He was already contracted until the end of 2026 and Essendon went, ‘You know what ... we’re feeling generous today. Jordan, would you like an extra three years for no reason? We’ll just give you an extra three years to take you until 2029 when you already had until 2026’.

“So three years left at the time that they gifted him this extension.

“He’s ripped his quad a couple of times, nine games (in 2024).

“They are nasty injuries those quad issues, and I don’t suspect the soft tissue stuff is going to get better with age.

“That’s one of the more bizarre ones I’ve ever seen ... and that comes in at No.4 for that reason.”

Ridley won Essendon’s best and fairest in 2020, and is highly respected at the club.

But he struggles to put full seasons together, managing just 94 career games since he was drafted in 2016.

When he received his contract extension, football manager Daniel McPherson called him “an incredibly influential player” and “an important leader”.

“He is the ultimate professional, highly regarded and well respected by his teammates, and will play a key role in shaping and driving the team culture and environment we are building at Essendon,” McPherson said.

“Despite an already impressive football resume ... we believe that Jordan’s best football is well and truly ahead of him.”