Super Bowl LIII is in the books and so the 2018 season has concluded. New England Patriots fans are still reveling in their team’s sixth Super Bowl win, but most viewers of the NFL have now turned their attention to the off-season. One of the biggest questions this off-season is where Teddy Bridgewater will play in 2019. Below is an exploration of some possible landing spots for Bridgewater.
Potential Landing Spots for Teddy Bridgewater
Bridgewater’s Contract
This is possibly the most intriguing question this off-season. Bridgewater was drafted in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He was beginning to prove he could be a really good NFL quarterback when he suffered a season ending knee injury and essentially missed the entire 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Vikings ended up declining to pick up his fifth-year option and Bridgewater became a free agent after the 2017 season.
In March 2018 Bridgewater signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets and in August 2018 the Jets traded Bridgewater and a 2019 sixth-round pick to the New Orleans Saints for a 2019 third-round selection. But the former Louisville quarterback barely saw any playing time while with the the Saints. He was essentially an expensive insurance policy should anything happen to Drew Brees during the season.
But this off-season Bridgewater is now a unrestricted free agent. There’s no way the Saints will use the franchise tag on him because the price would be exorbitant, especially for a backup quarterback. The Saints could re-sign him, but that could make the quarterback position too costly when New Orleans already has Brees and Taysom Hill on their roster.
The most logical course of action is Bridgewater signing with another team as a free agent.
Teams Possibly Interested
Obviously the Jacksonville Jaguars make sense. The Jags made it to the AFC Championship game in the 2017 season, but really regressed in 2018. Blake Bortles is not the answer at quarterback. Jacksonville just isn’t truly capable of winning a Super Bowl with Bortles under center. But they could possibly sign Bridgewater to a salary cap friendly deal. Bridgewater hasn’t really seen much playing time since tearing his ACL so it is doubtful he will break the bank. This could allow the Jaguars to sign a serious upgrade over Bortles without screwing themselves over cap wise.
The Miami Dolphins could be another possible landing spot for Bridgewater. Ryan Tannehill still has two years left on his current deal and he is still owed $18.7 million in base salary. But Miami can save approximately $13 million while taking a $13 million cap hit in 2019 if they release the 30-year old quarterback.
With the Fins recently making former Patriots defensive coordinator, Brian Flores, their new head coach, the organization seems to be in “tear down so we can build it back up” mode and that may mean shedding Tannehill. If Miami ends up releasing Tannehill then signing Bridgewater makes a lot of sense. They could potentially sign Bridgewater to a one or two-year deal and also draft a quarterback in 2019 (although this year’s draft class is weak) or 2020.
Depending on when/if Alex Smith returns from the gruesome leg injury he suffered last season the Washington Redskins could be in the market for a quarterback for the 2019 season and beyond. With this year’s quarterback draft class not being really deep, the Redskins having other areas of need they should address in the draft, and the uncertainty about when or if Smith returns to action, Washington signing Bridgewater could be a smart move.
It is doubtful that either organization does this, but both the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers should absolutely move from on Cam Newton and Jameis Winston, respectively. If either organization were to do that that would free them up to sign Bridgewater, who would be an upgrade both on and off the field.
Last Word
Bridgewater is too young and talented and the position of quarterback is too important in the NFL for the former first-round pick to not start for a team in 2019. He will definitely sign with a team and at a minimum compete for the starting job. The teams listed above make the most sense.
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