What Teddy Bridgewater winning the starting job means for the Raiders
By Alex Perl
What Teddy Bridgewater winning the starting job means for the Raiders
Looking back at Bridgewater’s career
After a horrific knee injury that would seem to derail most, Bridgwater rebuilt his stock and reputation with a strong showing as the backup to Drew Brees in New Orleans in 2019. He took over as the starter for five very strong games when Brees missed action due to injury, and this ultimately led to Bridgewater signing a lucrative three-year, $63m contract with the Carolina Panthers in the 2020 offseason.
When viewing the career of Bridgewater, he has always been a bit uneven, as even his first two seasons in Minnesota were shaky. When looking at what he accomplished in New Orleans, you have to view the context here, as, at the time, the New Orleans Saints had one of the best offenses in all of football.
This may have ultimately led to Bridgewater putting up such spectacular numbers.
In 2020, when Bridgwater had about as high as expectations as he had ever had after receiving the large contract, he basically resorted back to his normal play. Sure, the Panthers did lose their top player in running back Christian McCaffrey to injury for the bulk of the season, but Bridgewater still had a very capable supporting cast around him.
The Panthers would finish 4-11, and in the 15 games Bridgwater started, he threw as many touchdowns, while also throwing 11 interceptions.
It seems that Bridgewater will never be the superstar quarterback many had predicted he would be coming out of the University of Louisville, but he is indeed a capable starter. However, his ceiling is rather low, and while he may be the better option for the Broncos compared to Drew Lock, the Broncos could have given Lock possibly a longer leash now that the Broncos have a more healthy offense in 2021.