Former Cardinal Teddy Bridgewater has a new home

Cardinal forever Teddy Bridgewater has been traded to the New Orleans Saints, where he will be the heir apparent to Drew Brees.

Former Louisville Cardinal and Jets QB Teddy Bridgewater will come marching into New Orleans once again! On Wednesday, the Jets and Saints agreed to trade Teddy Bridgewater and a 6th round pick to New Orleans in exchange for a Saints 3rd round pick.

The move comes as a surprise to no one, as the Jets were to owe Bridgewater an additional $5 million if he made the final 53 man roster.

The pickup of Bridgewater has the aesthetics of the Saints franchise and head coach Sean Payton committing to the most promising and appealing backup QB behind franchise QB Drew Brees.

Bridgewater, who is only 25 years old, appears to be back to full form. He has been spectacular this preseason considering how terrible of an injury he suffered in 2016. In the Jets preseason, he went 28-38 for 316 yards, 2 touchdowns, a 75.8% completion rate, and a 104.7 QBR.

Teddy looked good dropping back. His lateral agility doesn’t appear to be an issue, and he’s been able to break the pocket, scamper and throw off his back foot.

Most importantly for Teddy, it seems he has cleared the mental hurdle. He’s taken some shots on his repaired knee this preseason and has popped back up unphased.

In a short period of time, Bridgewater won over the Jets locker room, coaches, front office, the Gang Green fans, and local media. Teddy’s infectious positive attitude, work ethic, and smile is sure to win over the Saints franchise, Who Dat Nation, and the local ‘Nawlins’ media.

The Saints have inherited a great locker room guy, who prides himself on working hard, absorbing the playbook, and perfecting his craft. He’s a possible franchise QB who could succeed Brees, 39 (not an easy feat) with the innate ability for players and fans to gravitate towards him.

Brees, a sure fire 1st-ballot Hall of Famer is nearing the end of his prolific NFL career, and is the greatest Saints QB of all time. He’s tied to a two-year contract, but rumors swirled in the off-season as to whether Brees would even return for his 18th season. He’s had 2 significant throwing shoulder injuries throughout his career, and those sort of things tend to have longer term effects at the end of careers. With the Saints sensing the Brees era is nearing its end, perhaps that provides motive as to why they’ve invested so heavily in a backup QB now.

Provided that Sean Payton remains in place, Bridgewater is a great fit as he would be able to execute his vertical, big-play offense. All the bootlegs, play-action passes, and Shotgun formations that Payton likes to call, he can continue do so in confidence with Teddy ready for action.

Last season, with the Eagles in contention for a Super Bowl, they lost their Franchise quarterback Carson Wentz just before the playoffs. It has never been more evident how valuable it is to have a competent and effective backup quarterback as when the world watched Nick Foles lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl win over the Patriots.

While Bridgewater hasn’t played a snap yet for the Saints, Teddy is no stranger to the Superdome. He marched into New Orleans and lead his Louisville Cardinals team to a 33-23 victory over the Florida Gators in the 2013 Sugar Bowl, earning MVP honors along the way.

Teddy and the Saints start their season September 9th, at home in the Superdome against divisional rival Tampa Bay and figure to be a playoff contender heading into the season.

With the addition of Bridgewater, the Saints have bolstered their roster and added a great locker room presence.