New York Jets: Teddy Bridgewater key to team’s future

The New York Jets are in a tricky spot this offseason, and how they deal with Teddy Bridgewater could affect the future of the organization going forward.

In 2018 free agency, the New York Jets didn’t appear to be very active, especially given their cap space. Maybe that was by design, or maybe it was that top free agents didn’t want to come to play for Gang Green given the history of the organization.

Then, Sam Darnold unexpectedly (in many people’s view) fell to the Jets at No. 3 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, and their perspective had to change. However, it also put them in a somewhat of a dicey spot.

They have an incumbent veteran (Josh McCown) who may start Week 1, a rookie who needs reps (and one who could also start Week 1, if he’s ready), and a young veteran quarterback coming back from a major injury who could be a valuable trade asset if he can prove that he’s healthy and even close to what he was before. Of course, the third guy is Teddy Bridgewater.

Football is a business, so getting Bridgewater healthy in order to trade him shouldn’t be an issue with pending free agents. That said, the Jets will have to navigate this well enough to give Bridgewater a way to showcase himself, if he’s able to. Doing that may show pending free agents that the organization is doing the right thing.

One of the reasons for not landing free agents in 2018 could’ve been them not wanting to go to the Jets. If the Jets do right by Bridgewater, it may start changing some minds about how the organization operates and show that things are changing in Florham Park. They’re not the “same old Jets.”

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Now that they finally have a franchise quarterback, they need to think of his future. That begins with the delicate balance they’re dealing with in camp. How they deal with Bridgewater isn’t just shaping 2018, but the future of this franchise.