The Detroit Lions sign veteran QB Teddy Bridgewater
The Detroit Lions have found their backup at quarterback. It was reported on Monday and later made official on Thursday, that the Lions had signed veteran QB Teddy Bridgewater to a one year deal. Bridgewater will make 5 million with 2.65 million being guaranteed. Last season, Bridgewater played for the Dolphins and was the backup to Tua Tagovailoa. The Louisville product started 2 games and appeared in 4 of the 17 contests. However, during Bridgewater’s time as the starter he left in both games as the 2015 Pro-Bowler suffered a concussion and sprained his finger. Last season, the 32nd overall pick in the 2014 draft, threw 4 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and 683 yards with an 85.6 passer rating.
Background
This will be Bridgewater`s seventh team as he also played for the Vikings, Jets, Saints, Panthers, Broncos and Dolphins. In his career, he has made the Pro-Bowl once and has thrown for 75 TDS, 47 INT, 15,120 yards with a 66.4 completion percentage. The 30 year old QB was going to be the Vikings future, but a bad ACL tear caused him to miss 2 years of playing time. Bridgewater then signed with the Jets in 2018. He had a good preseason, but the Jets wanted to start then rookie Sam Darnold and traded him to the Saints. In 2019, he got his chance to be the starter after Drew Brees suffered a thumb injury that caused him to miss 5 games. Teddy Bridgewater filled in nicely for the Hall of Famer and went 5-0 throwing for 9 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions while having 1,384 yards through the air. In 2020, after he had a great year, he got a chance to be the full time starter and signed with the Panthers on a three year deal for 63 million. However, the Panthers struggled in 2020 and went 5-11. Teddy B did not have a bad year, but Carolina was hoping for a better outcome. They shipped him to Denver while he would be the starter for one year after beating out Drew Lock. In 2020, he threw for 15 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 3,733 yards and a completion percentage of 92.1. In 202, he went 7-7 as the starter until he suffered a concussion in a 15-10 loss to the Bengals that caused to miss the remainder of the season. In the 2021 season, he had 18 TD’s and 7 INT’s. After being the backup in his hometown Miami, Bridgewater now will play for his sixth team in six years.
Backup role
The Lions needed a backup option as their rookie Hendon Hooker would likely not be available until midseason with an achilles tear. Hooker suffered the injury late last season while at Tennessee. The Lions used their third round pick on Hooker in this year's draft. On top of that, their other backup Nate Sudfield who has some experience as a backup, but has never started a game in the NFL. Sudfield has been in the League since 2016 and has played for Washington, Philly, San Francisco and Detroit. Bridgewater immediately makes their QB room better as they have a former starter to backup Goff as the QB2. Touchdown Teddy, did not play in the Lions preseason opener vs the Giants, but is expected to play vs the Jaguars next week. Lions GM Brad Holmes has been a huge fan of Bridgewater and was ecstatic to sign the veteran. Even Lions head coach Dan Campbell was excited about Bridgewater and had this to say about who would be behind Goff this season. This was Campell talking to the Detroit Press. "You just want to know that you are in the best hands possible,". "It's also the competition. It doesn't mean that Nate Sudfeld is out of anything if we go this route and it works out. You'll feel good about whoever comes out of the fire ... to help you along the way." Campbell was in Nola as the TE`s and assistant coach when Bridgewater was the backup to legend Drew Brees.
Closing
With Goff being the starter, the Lions now have 4 QBS on their depth chart. If everything goes as planned, Goff will be the starter, Bridgewater the backup and if need be they will have Nate Sudfield as the third option at quarterback. Henden Hooker will likely be on the IR until mid season. The Lions also have undrafted free agent Adrian Martinez at QB. However, he is likely going to be cut unless there are some injuries. For the most part, Bridgewater knows the Lions offense and should be able to do well in the system when he plays later this week in the Lions second preseason game vs the Jags. Bridgewater is excited to play for the Lions and is ready to begin a new chapter in the Motor City.
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