Teddy Bridgewater faces biggest decision of his career ahead.. again
By Jacob Lane
What team’s may come calling?
There are 12 teams who I have identified as having or could soon be having a need at the quarterback position, and of those 12 teams, nine of them won’t have top-six draft picks – meaning they’ll likely have to settle their need via the back half of the first round and beyond or through free agency.
All nine of those teams first have to make a decision about the current starter they have. Some will have to decide whether they want to re-sign their current starter to long-term deals, while the others will have to make a decision on whether they simply want to release their quarterback and move on or bring in another starter as competition.
Let’s quickly remove teams that I believe will not target Teddy Bridgewater (at least as their starter). Those include Tennessee (likely to resign Tannehill), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (likely to resign Winston), Oakland (more likely to draft a quarterback under Jon Gruden) and New Orleans (Drew Brees likely to return for at least one more season).
That leaves nine teams. Of those nine teams, I believe there are two logical landing spots that would both have money to spend and the quarterback need, while there’s one other team who of course makes sense. These are in no particular order.
New England Patriots
Tom Brady is a free agent for the first time in a long time (if ever) and with all the reports over the last few years of there being a discord between himself and head coach Bill Bellicheck, this could finally be the year that the GOAT moves on.
If Brady does retire, that leaves a huge hole to fill at quarterback. As of now the Patriots seemingly have no long-term succession plan after trading away former backups Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett, and what they’d do next remains about as big of a mystery as the actual decision of Brady.
Enter Teddy Bridgewater.
While the cold weather could be an issue, who would say no to a team with the acumen of the Patriots with weapons on both sides of the ball that would keep the team as contenders for the considerable future. The offense isn’t built off of long explosive plays, rather on short-runs and passing plays that allow the offense to sustain long scoring drives.
Many have argued that Brady was a product of Belichick’s system, which means that Bridgewater could step in right away and produce at a career level. His personality is one that I can see thriving in New England, considering the professional, business-like approach that he’s always carried.
The Patriots dynasty that we’ve all come to love (just kidding) is over, there’s no denying that, but even if Brady does leave – Bridgewater’s high IQ, professionalism, and winning mentality could make him a great short-term, or long-term option for the Patriots.
The more likely scenario is that the Patriots spend their cap space on skill position players, specifically at wide receiver, in an attempt to bring back Tom Brady for at least one more season.
Indianapolis Colts
The late offseason retirement announcement from Andrew Luck threw a major wrench into the plans of the Indianapolis Colts, who looked on the verge of making a deep playoff run for the first time in his career.
They turned to Jacoby Brissett, who played in Luck’s place last season while he was out with injury, and it went about how you’d expect it go. The Colts gave Brissett a two-year extension worth up to $30 million, in hopes that the former Patriot could develop into a good enough quarterback to lead the Colts into the playoffs.
He started well but finished poor, and the Colts missed the playoffs once again. That’s left many to wonder about whether Brissett is capable of being a starter and if the Colts are a QB away from a Super Bowl run.
Once again, enter Bridgewater.
Bridgewater showed that he was a perfect plug-n-play quarterback in 2019 for New Orleans, going 5-0 as a starter and getting the most of the talented skill players. It wasn’t always sexy, but Bridgewater took care of the ball, always made the right play, and most importantly – won football games.
If Bridgewater were to take over as the Colts quarterback, you best believe Lucas Oil Stadium would quickly become Louisville North.
New Orleans Saints
It would be idiotic to not include New Orleans on this list, considering Teddy has now spent the last two years playing for the Saints. This season the Saints saw the trust they put in Bridgewater rewarded with a 5-0 record during his time as a starter with Drew Brees out, which ultimately not only kept the Saints in the thick of things in the NFC but springboarded their jump to the third seed in the playoffs.
Bridgewater proved on the field he could not only be a great short-term option at quarterback when Brees is out but also when and if the time comes, could step into the starting role full time and help the Saints not skip a beat.
Ironically, the Saints will have two huge quarterback decisions to make this offseason that impact the long-term future and plans for the franchise. With Drew Brees entering his 21st season in the NFL at the ripe age of 40 (will turn 41 next season), still playing at an elite level, the Saints have no choice but to bring him back. Over the last 13 years, Brees has been the heartbeat of the city of New Orleans, and if he’s playing well and the team is winning games – there will be loyalty to him until he’s ready to hang his cleats up.
But knowing their quarterback has just a short amount of time left in the league, how much do they pay him? That’s the big question, and until we know that there’s no way to tell if the Saints will offer Bridgewater a big enough contract to keep him in the fold until Brees steps away.
Bridgewater could repeat what he did last season as well, especially if he has a feeling 2020 could be Brees’ last season by resigning on a short-term deal with the promise of a long-term contract following a retirement.
The Saints’ front office, coaching staff, and teammates absolutely love Teddy, as does the city of New Orleans. There is a perfect situation awaiting Bridgewater whenever Brees decides to quit football, but the potential of cashing in now may be too much for the current Saint to pass up.