New York Jets: A Teddy Bridgewater trade must happen soon

After the performance of Teddy Bridgewater against the Falcons, the New York Jets may have to consider a trade sooner rather than later if they want to deal him.

Fans of and media member that cover the New York Jets suspect the preseason will be a way to parade Teddy Bridgewater out there to increase his trade value. If healthy, they can command at least a second round pick, like the one they used to acquire the pick that turned into Sam Darnold.

There are two problems with that assessment. The first being Mike Maccagnan. In 2016 and 2017, people called for Sheldon Richardson to be traded, and he might have even been on the trade block for that entire time period.

If he was, then we know Maccagnan is a shrewd negotiator. He doesn’t settle for any deals. He basically parlayed Sheldon Richardson into Jermaine Kearse and Sam Darnold. That’s a lopsided deal if Darnold turns into what most people expect. So, that means Maccagnan won’t settle for a deal that hurts the team in the long-run.

Let’s talk about the other elephant in the room — his actual trade value. Quarterbacks are worth a lot in today’s NFL, but barring injury, it’s hard to find a trade partner for someone like Bridgewater — who’d probably expect to be a starter — as training camp and preseason gets later and later. While he was impressive in his debut for 2018, if they don’t trade him after the game against the Redskins teams that don’t have an injury to a quarterback may be reluctant to trade for him, even if they believe he’s healthy.

Think about this. Why would a team trade for him when he wasn’t there for the offensive install during OTA, missed all this practice time with that team, and expects to be a starter? Having Bridgewater in your camp would cause an unnecessary quarterback controversy. How many teams would be willing to take on that?

The most likely scenario is that he’s still on the roster Week 1. However, that’s a good thing for the Jets, because if he stays they have a viable backup who’s been a part of a playoff team in his career.

In the end, his trade value may be high now, but if they don’t trade him soon, he’ll likely still be there come Monday Night Football in Detroit. That may be the best case scenario for the 2018 Jets.