Teddy Bridgewater faces biggest decision of his career ahead.. again
By Jacob Lane
After going 5-0 as a starter in 2019, Teddy Bridgewater will have the toughest choice of his career ahead. Stay in New Orleans (again) or cash in and sign elsewhere?
It may be deja vu, but here we are once again with former Louisville football star Teddy Bridgewater set to hit NFL Free Agency with a chance to land a starting gig at quarterback.
For each of the last three seasons, Bridgewater has hit free agency looking to be the next quarterback to cash in big. Unfortunately for him, his lingering knee issues and lack of playing time as a backup have led to the market being fairly dry with only a few teams interested and available to make an offer.
After his last season in Minnesota (and his first fully healthy following his knee injury) Bridgewater signed a deal with the New York Jets that looked to make him the starter, at least for one season, while rookie Sam Darnold prepared to take over. Bridgewater was electric during the 2018 preseason and with Darnold being more prepared than originally thought, the Jets used the fifth-year quarterback as trade bait sending him to the New Orleans Saints to be the backup to Drew Brees.
Playing in that role meant Teddy likely wouldn’t see the field much (at least right away), as Brees continued to defy father time, helping to keep the Saints in Super Bowl contention in his 40s. Bridgewater quickly became a beloved figure in both the locker room and with the Saints, and despite not seeing the field except in blowouts or in the week 17 start following clinching the division, there was hope that one day no. 5 could potentially be the next man up after Brees was ready to hang it up.
Bridgewater hit the market for the second straight year, once again met with little fanfare from the 32 teams. After the Miami Dolphins came calling, offering a fairly substantial amount of money and the hopes of being a starter (even if it was for a tanking team) Bridgewater had a tough, potentially career-defining, decision to make; Stay a backup in New Orleans short-term with the long-term plan of taking over a loaded team and following a future Hall of Famer, or take the money and get the starting role he had worked so hard for – even if for a losing team.
What 2019 proved
As we know, Bridgewater made the decision to bet on himself – returning to the Saints for his second straight season hoping that he could either get the chance to prove once again he could be a starter if Brees was injured and/or continue on with the plan to one day become the guy in New Orleans.
When Teddy Bridgewater was inserted into the game in week two following the thumb injury to Drew Brees, his performance left a lot to be desired. At the time there was no idea how long Brees would be out, but the 17/30