The Jets will sign free agent quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to a one-year deal, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Bridgewater will earn approximately $5MM on his new pact, tweets Dianna Russini of ESPN.com, while the pact also contains incentives, per Ralph Vacchiano of SNY (Twitter link).
Earlier today, reports indicated that Bridgewater was working on a contract with the Jets, but he apparently had other options on the table. Since then, we’ve learned Gang Green has promised its starting job to fellow quarterback Josh McCown, so Bridgewater will presumably join New York as a backup. McCown, however, isn’t exactly a picture of health, so it won’t be surprising if Bridgewater sees significant playing time.
Bridgewater, of course, comes with significant health question marks of his own. The former first-round pick infamously suffered a gruesome knee injury prior to the 2016 campaign, and while he’s remarkably worked his way back into form, Bridgewater has attempted just two passes since 2015.
The Jets’ quarterback situation is extremely fluid, as they could still use the sixth overall pick on a young signal-caller. If they do, it’s possible Bridgewater is relegated to third-string duty. But if New York goes another direction in the first round, Bridgewater could see playing time as the season progresses, possibly setting himself up for a payday in 2019.
During his two years as the Vikings’ starting quarterback, Bridgewater was competent but not a world-beater. In 28 starts, Bridgewater completed 65% of his passes and averaged 3,075 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. While those are respectable numbers, they’re probably not enough for a club to not pursue an upgrade.
I thought when the Jets signed McCown and promised him the starting job that the Bills would swoop and sign this guy.
I can’t see mccown lasting the whole year. Bridgewater is a more viable option than mccown. The jets would be dumb to not play Bridgewater
How do you know he’s a more viable option? 2 passes since 2015? The dude is a huge question mark, and wasn’t even that great in the first place when healthy.
Yes, his knee is a question mark, and yes, this particular injury was more comprehensive and devastating than your run-of-the-mill (!!) ACL tear. But QB’s have come back from bad knee injuries throughout the entire history of football, so he is at least worth taking a gamble on, which is what the Jets are doing, and for a pretty cheap price, especially for a guy who put up pretty darn good numbers for his FIRST TWO YEARS IN THE LEAGUE, made the playoffs, made the Pro Bowl, and proved that he was, at least, a more than competent game manager.
I lost all respect for Bridgewater…. good comeback story but disrespected the Vikings at the end
how?
How did he disrespect the vikings?
What
I’d still draft a QB & get him ready to takeover
I would describe their QB situation as a flaming bag of poo.
Poo poo platter I’ve said on a number of occasions
Uggggh.
Not thrilled.
Minnesota wasn’t clamoring to re-sign him.
What do they know about the guy or his injury that we’re missing ?
Probably not much outside of the fact that he won’t be the same player as he was pre-injury. If the Vikings were all in on Cousins, it doesn’t make much sense to sign a QB at a decent rate to be the backup. $5m is too much for a backup when the starter is going to get $28m per year.
I think he just didn’t want to stay in Minnesota because that’s a reasonable enough price tag that I would think the Vikings could have lived with if they felt he was healthy
They acquired two potential stop gaps for their new upcoming draft pick. I think they did ok with this.
Breaking News: Teddy Bridgewater Spontaneously Combusts; Out For The Season
ok ok ok
now draft Mayfield and i think i’ll be content
“While those are respectable numbers, they’re probably not enough for a club to not pursue an upgrade.”
I’m sorry, but are the numbers you quoted standard issue for the first two years of a quarterback’s career? Especially when being sacked 83 times? You know, he did also make an appearances in both the playoffs and the Pro Bowl as a second-year starter, too.
These are two smart signings for the Jets, especially if they still draft a QB at #6 overall, preferably either Baker Mayfield or Lamar Jackson. McCown and Bridgewater should keep the rookie on the bench, learning from a couple of real pros, which is just where he belongs.