Report: Bridgewater Expected to Become a Free Agent

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Feb 27, 2018

Story Update: It’s been reported now that the actual story here (thanks to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune and Luke Braun of the … Us, for pointing it out to me) is that Teddy’s contract wasn’t “tolling” this year, meaning that he will become a free agent (as opposed to his contract basically being up next year instead because of his injury) this off-season. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Vikings aren’t going to offer him a new contract just that it was ruled that they need to offer him a new contract. We’ll know more in the coming weeks but I felt like this article was still valid as, again, most of the rumors this off-season from those in the “know” point towards the Vikings 2018-19 QB being either Case Keenum or Kirk Cousins. 

Yesterday the Vikings/Cousins news seemed to hit a fever pitch with the release of a Tweet from former Cowboys VP of Player Personnel Gil Brandt, who stated that the interest that Kirk Cousins has to play for the Vikings has become “Mutual”, meaning that the Vikings were interesting in making a play for the 29-year old “Best in a Generation” free agent quarterback. While Brandt isn’t known as an NFL insider or someone that breaks news like that, he is a former NFL executive and is probably still plugged into that world, so his voice is at least taken seriously (or apparently taken seriously considering the amount of coverage that his Tweet got across the interwebs). One person who definitely is taken seriously by everyone and that DOES break news, though, is Ian Rapoport of the NFL.com and NFL Network. Rapoport reported this morning that 2014 first-round pick at quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, will be leaving the Vikings and joining the free agent market when the new league season starts in March. That’s not entirely unexpected considering some of the news/rumors that have come out this off-season and also based on the fact that he wasn’t activated for the playoffs last season but is still something that seemed impossible before the 2016 season, or at least before his injury that pre-season.

The Vikings traded up to nab him at the end of the first round which at the time was seen as a pretty big fall for the former “consensus” #1 pick in that year’s draft. It was a disastrous pro-day that lead to the fall of his draft stock and really opened the door to the question of whether or not a pro-quarterback could throw while wearing a glove and what that meant for Teddy coming up to play in the icy North. He performed admirably in his first two full seasons, though, bringing the Vikings to the playoffs and almost winning his first playoff game against the Seahawks at TCF Bank Stadium at the end of his second season (which was his first full season as a starter). That missed kick by Blair Walsh ended up being the last game Bridgewater ever started for the Vikings and it seems like such a long time ago and such a bad way for his career as a Viking to end (as even those, like me, who didn’t think that Teddy was a complete QB did want to see him come back and tear the league up (in Purple and Gold) after his injury). Granted, he did play in the pre-season before his injury and appeared to have reached a new level in terms of his ability to make all the throws on the field. He came into the league with a quasi-side arm delivery, which meant that he often overthrew receivers down the field (just ask former Viking wide receiver Mike Wallace) as he wasn’t getting enough air under the ball, but he appeared to be working on that during the 2016 pre-season and appeared to have been making great strides in that department again before his terrible injury that August. It was during a pre-season practice that his career almost ended, as during a non-contact drill he planted his left leg after a brief scramble and ended up dislocating/breaking his leg (around the knee joint) that players on the field were reportedly vomiting, screaming while throwing their helmets and praying. It was only the quick thinking and training of NFL best team trainer Eric Sugarman that saved Teddy’s leg and career.

It’s hard to say why the Vikings are moving on from Teddy. Perhaps they believe that they’re definitely going to land Kirk Cousins and wanted to give Teddy a shot to start somewhere else. Perhaps Teddy was adamant that he wanted that shot, as he stated in the media about two weeks ago when he said that he envisioned starting “somewhere” in 2018. Perhaps it was the uncertainty from his injury, his mediocre performance as a starter, his fit in the offense that new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo is instituting, or some combination of that and more. It’s amazing to think that Teddy is going to be done as a Viking and while I was never the biggest fan of his play on the field, I did and do want the guy to succeed and really don’t know how to feel about this one. It’s just too bad that his injury ended up being the reason that his career has been put on hold and while he’ll definitely get his shot elsewhere, you’d think it’d be as part of a “prove it” deal that shows he’s both healthy and capable enough to carry a franchise, especially when there seems to be a lot of quarterbacks available in free agency this off-season.

Speaking of which, with Teddy leaving it leaves the Vikings with Sam Bradford and Case Keenum as the quarterbacks that they still can negotiate with before free agency begins. All the talk this off-season has been about Case Keenum (for obvious reasons), who it’s been said that the Vikings wouldn’t franchise but are trying to negotiate a longer term deal with. It’s been said that the Vikings would go after former Bengal AJ McCarron should negotiations with Keenum fail, which would be seemingly more risky than re-signing Teddy in my opinion as McCarron has even less NFL experience than Jimmy Garappolo had before he went to San Francisco, and while that’s not the best comparison to make when bringing up a negative, I just can’t picture this Vikings team going after McCarron when there are other QB’s out there with proven track-records and this window of opportunity still being open. The best free agent QB that is available is obviously Kirk Cousins and because of that he obviously makes the most sense as the QB the Vikings would end up with, especially as he’s apparently interested in joining the Vikings (if all the money offered is the same, at least according to one report). While, again, it’s been said that his interest in the Vikings is based on equal pay, it’s been emerging lately that Cousins is also willing to take less money to play for a contender, something that’s huge for the Vikings and their chances.

One of the main narratives that people who don’t want the Vikings to sign Cousins is that he’s had a sub-.500 record as a starter in the NFL. That’s something that Cousins is aware of and perhaps he wants to prove to the league that he is indeed a winner, which would actually do more for his finances long-term than taking a massive NY Jets style deal that’d give him perhaps $40 or more million in the first year to start for a team that’s multiple years, and players away from actually contending (add to that the vicious nature of the media and fans in New York and you can see why he might want to play for a contender in a small market). The Vikings are basically set at every position outside of their quarterback and are definitely the best team, on paper, of all the teams that have shown an interest in Cousins. So, it makes sense that he’s interested in playing here “all things being equal” financially, but also if the Vikings aren’t able to match the Jets’ offer financially. Then again, it has been reported that the Jets are willing to offer Cousins “whatever it takes” and that’s what scares me as perhaps they’ll throw out some gigantic number that Cousins just can’t turn down, but then again, with Case Keenum, Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater, Tyrod Taylor and more being available as free agents this off-season (assuming the Vikings land Cousins), do they really need to pay him that much?

We will all learn more as the off-season progresses, especially considering that the combine starts today and a lot of the NFL’s decision-makers are in the same town. That’s where a lot of deals are done between teams and agents or at least a lot of rumors are spread about teams and players, so I expect to hear more news, really at any time this week. So now it’s looking like this comes down to Case Keenum or Kirk Cousins for the Vikings and really, that’s not a bad position to be in if you’re any franchise. I mean, look how great both Sam Bradford and Case Keenum looked in this offense last year. Perhaps, especially with Keenum, perhaps he IS the quarterback his time in Houston and Los Angeles proved and that the skilled players on offense for the Vikings just elevated his play. So, imagine Kirk Cousins, a guy who has had 94 touchdowns and 31 interceptions over the past three seasons and peaked at a hair under 5,000 yards while throwing to DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon… That’s something worth getting excited about and while he’s not perfect, his floor is a lot lower than guys like Keenum, who felt like he could still revert to that pre-Vikings form at any time. So, let’s just say that I’m all-in on this move and have a feeling that with Teddy gone, Cousins may be the future in Minnesota and while some may think I’m overstating things, it’s looking like that future is brighter than ever.

Stay tuned to purplePTSD and our sister-site www.VikingsTerritory.com for any and all Vikings news!

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