{"id":256333,"date":"2025-11-26T13:30:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T18:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=256333"},"modified":"2025-11-25T18:48:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T23:48:43","slug":"former-vikings-legend-teddy-bridgewater-could-audition-for-new-role-potential-2026-free-agent-destinations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/11\/26\/former-vikings-legend-teddy-bridgewater-could-audition-for-new-role-potential-2026-free-agent-destinations\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Vikings Legend Could “Audition” for New Role – Potential 2026 Free Agent Destinations"},"content":{"rendered":"

With quarterback Baker Mayfield expected to miss time, the team will lean on veteran Teddy Bridgewater, who is likely playing for a new role in the future. Bridgewater came back to the league after spending a few years to become the head coach of his former high school team. However, the quarterback came back to join the Lions after helping his old school to a state title, where he got a few reps while Jared Goff got checked on with an injury in the NFC Divisional Round matchup against the Washington Commanders. Now, it’s time for the veteran to step into a huge role<\/a>, and it’s something that isn’t new to him.<\/p>\n

Former Vikings Legend Teddy Bridgewater Could “Audition” for New Role – Potential 2026 Free Agent Destinations<\/h2>\n

Originally selected as a first-round pick, the former Louisville product suffered a career-altering injury as the quarterback for the Vikings, which has prevented him from playing for two seasons. Fortunately, he was still able to play when he joined the Saints, but in a backup role behind Hall of Famer Drew Brees<\/a>. Bridgewater helped New Orleans stay afloat, going 5-0, leading the team for the divisional crown.<\/p>\n

The hope is that he can do the same in Tampa Bay. The veteran finished the latest contest in a blowout loss to the Rams, but has a chance to write himself a special send-off unless he wants to continue playing. Bridgewater still has a lot left in the tank, and these three teams should look into getting him this upcoming offseason.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Carolina Panthers<\/h3>\n

While the Carolina Panthers found some much-needed life in their offense, they could use an adequate veteran quarterback to guide Bryce Young<\/a>. At 6-6 and still having some type of chance in the postseason, the Panthers should continue to see Young grow. However, the primetime game against the 49ers didn’t show much.<\/a><\/p>\n

This isn’t to say Young can’t turn into a solid starter, but when you see Patriots Drake Maye, who is thriving in his second year, it tells the team that they might need to draft a new signal-caller. Young is only good as long as the offensive line is intact, but the Panthers should sign Bridgewater since he’s a better fit for what the Panthers are building over Andy Dalton.<\/p>\n

\"Why
Nov 24, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) drops back to pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Minnesota Vikings<\/h3>\n

A reunion could be possible here. JJ McCarthy has yet to prove, and it’s hard to justify his potential given that he missed time again this year while still leading the team to a 4-7 record thus far. At the bottom of the NFC North, the Vikings need to look at their options this upcoming offseason. Last year, they had an “out of nowhere” season with Sam Darnold under center, so it might be a quarterback itself. If available, the Vikings should take Bridgewater over Kirk Cousins<\/a> to end his season on a better second stint and allow McCarthy to ride the bench to learn.<\/p>\n

\"JJ
Jun 10, 2025; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) practices during minicamp at the Minnesota Vikings Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

3. New Orleans Saints<\/h3>\n

Bridgewater could return to New Orleans for one last run and retire with the Saints, too. The quarterback had a phenomenal run with them, and it’s possible he can do the same with the rebuilt talent they have, led by head coach Kellen Moore. It buys the Saints some time to develop the next starting quarterback, as they failed to produce that out of Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Saints
Jun 10, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) and quarterback Spencer Rattler (2) and quarterback Jake Haener (3) look on during minicamp at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former New Orleans Saints backup could be playing for a new starting role for the 2026 season in the wake of Baker Mayfield’s injury. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":256341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,30,26,28,6431,29],"tags":[9487,7739,371,32491,7753,7752,7661,7659,7331,63,9819],"class_list":["post-256333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-panthers","category-vikings","category-saints","category-nfl-teams","category-buccaneers","tag-bryce-young","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-drew-brees","tag-jj-mccarthy","tag-minnesota-vikings-news","tag-new-orleans-saints-news","tag-panthers-featured","tag-saints-featured","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers-news","tag-teddy-bridgewater","tag-tyler-shough"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256333"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256347,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256333\/revisions\/256347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}