New York Jets: Teddy Bridgewater is future, if healthy

The New York Jets and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater have agreed to a one-year deal, and he’s their franchise quarterback — if he proves he can stay healthy.

There’s one thing that has been eluding the New York Jets for decades, a franchise quarterback. They’ve got one in Teddy Bridgewater, if he can stay healthy.

A one-year “prove it” deal is the deal the Jets and Bridgewater have agreed to. The money has not been reported, yet. That said, the Jets are in the catbird seat when it comes to the quarterback position.

In a non-contact injury, Bridgewater tore up his knee back in 2016 training camp with the Minnesota Vikings. Until that gruesome injury, he was proving to the league why the Vikings took him at the end of the first round in 2014. Through his first two seasons in the NFL, Bridgewater completed 64.9 percent of his passes, with 28 touchdowns and only 21 interceptions on 849 pass attempts.

Even though he’s a mobile quarterback, he didn’t rely on his legs much in Minnesota as a running threat. He only had 91 rushing attempts before the injury. He did score four touchdowns on the ground, though.

Yes, mobility was a huge factor in his game, but he’s far from a run first guy. Time will tell if his knee will hold up to the pounding of the NFL. Let’s be honest. There are a lot of what ifs with Teddy Bridgewater’s knee. They do have their man, though, if the what ifs are answered with a resounding yes by the end of 2017.

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If the Jets continue to build the defense, and they give Bridgewater a sound running game, the team will be able to become contenders relatively quickly. Bridgewater is similar to Tyrod Taylor in that they both don’t commit turnovers. He will be their guy long-term, if he stays healthy.