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February 7, 2021 By: Kevin Kissner

Teddy Bridgewater makes a lot of sense for the Denver Broncos

Landing Deshaun Watson is the dream scenario for the Denver Broncos and all of Broncos Country. But unfortunately, that also happens to be the dream scenario for about 80-percent of teams in the NFL.

There’s been discussions around the media that maybe the Broncos could target a veteran quarterback to come in and compete with Drew Lock or possibly even replace Lock as a bridge quarterback. Tyrod Taylor, Andy Dalton, and Jacoby Brissett have been names thrown out, but there is another name that nobody has talked about that is worth remembering: Teddy Bridgewater.

Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network reported earlier this week that the Panthers tried to trade for Matthew Stafford before he was traded to the Rams. Rapoport also added that Carolina could be a dark-horse team to watch in the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes, and mentioned that he would not be surprised if the Panthers end up selecting a quarterback early in the NFL Draft with their top-10 pick if they miss out on Watson. This likely means Bridgewater’s time in Carolina is coming to an end.

When you connect the dots, Bridgewater makes a lot of sense for the Broncos as a veteran option.

Remember, newly hired Broncos general manager George Paton was with the Minnesota Vikings when they drafted Bridgewater with the 32^nd pick of the first-round in 2014. With the familiarity between the two, there’s a good chance they could end up reuniting in Denver.

Bridgewater spent three seasons with the Vikings, but it was really just two seasons after he suffered a horrific leg injury (a torn ACL with structural damage and dislocation in the knee joint) during practice in 2016.

In his 28 starts with Minnesota, the gun-slinger from Louisville completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 6,150 yards and 28 touchdowns. Bridgewater also started in his only playoff appearance in the 2015 season after leading his team to an 11-5 record.

Bridgewater then signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets in 2018 before being traded to the New Orleans Saints in the same year.

Many people believed that Bridgewater’s career might be over and he would finish his career as a backup type quarterback, until he had to fill in for the injured Drew Brees in 2019. In his five games starting in place of Brees, Bridgewater resurrected his career. Bridgewater would lead the Saints to a 5-0 record completing 67.9 percent of his passes for 1,384 yards and nine touchdowns to just two interceptions. This made Bridgewater a sought after free agent last offseason.

Bridgewater ultimately signed a three-year deal with the Carolina Panthers worth $63 million. $40 mllion is guaranteed over the first two seasons per Dan Graziano of ESPN. In 2021 Bridgewater will have a cap hit of $22.9 million with a potential out in 2022.

In 15 starts with the Panthers, Carolina went 4-11, but Bridgewater completed a career high 69.1 percent of his passes and 15 touchdowns. In those 15 starts, Bridgewater threw for just over 3,700 yards. With the Panthers going into a complete rebuild with a new head coach you can’t blame Bridgewater for not getting his team to the next level.

If the Broncos are willing to make a trade for Bridgewater, they likely wouldn’t have to trade away the No. 9 overall pick in this year’s draft. Denver could likely send Carolina a mid-round pick for Bridgewater, but also ask for draft compensation in return due to the quarterback’s large cap hit.

With a lot of quarterbacks on the move this offseason, this could be a realistic name to watch for the Broncos.