New York Giants: The Teddy Bridgwater regret

Yes, the New York Giants could have drafted Sam Darnold. The Giants also could have signed Teddy Bridgewater and still drafted Saquon Barkley.

The New York Giants could have had quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Remember that whenever anybody tries to convince you that general manager Dave Gettleman, head coach Pat Shumur and others made a massive mistake by drafting running back Saquon Barkley over Sam Darnold or by not trading down in the draft to get one of the other signal-callers taken in the first round.

The Giants could have had Bridgewater for nothing; well, nothing other than the contract that the New York Jets gave him, one that guaranteed him only $500,000, as explained by Darryl Slater of NJ.com.

Big Blue didn’t need to orchestrate a trade with the Minnesota Vikings, Jets, New Orleans Saints or anybody else. Following the knee injury that could have cost him his career (and still could), Bridgewater was just sitting there for any team to sign in the final days of the winter months.

Granted, nobody knew what Bridgewater’s knee would and wouldn’t be as of last March. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t worth the flier or a workout. Ask the Jets about that. The Jets went out of the way to pay Josh McCown a boatload of money, sign Bridgewater and then trade up to get Darnold.

Even before the first official day of spring, Bridgewater realized he wasn’t in Gang Green’s long-term plans. He may have been feeling some regret about signing for the team that shares MetLife Stadium at that time.

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We now know that Shumur and/or others within the organization did not view Davis Webb as the man who may, in the future, replace Eli Manning in the Giants lineup. Webb didn’t make it out of the preseason on the roster, and he, ironically, is signed to the practice squad of the Jets. A regime that never selected Webb moved on. It happens.

Would Bridgewater be a sitting duck behind what was, during the first two weeks of the regular season, the league’s worst offensive line and a sieve-like unit that couldn’t protect Manning in a game of “Red Rover” let alone from feeling the wrath of oncoming professional pass-rushers? Maybe.

Go back and watch Teddy B perform for the Jets in exhibition games and practices. He may not have been the quarterback of old, but he looked pretty good and, more importantly, more capable of escaping a defensive lineman than the 37-year old future Hall of Famer.

The overreactions to Darnold’s impressive debut versus the Detroit Lions were both predictable and humorous, as were the apologist takes after the first loss of his career. He may be great. He may flop. He may fall somewhere in between. For all we know, he is one practice away from shattering his knee and never being the same. Literally nobody knows what Darnold will or won’t beyond September.

If individuals are going to criticize the Giants for not taking Darnold with the second pick, why aren’t those same people crushing the franchise for passing on Bridgewater? Just as with the Jets and the Saints, Bridgewater never would have started Week 1 for the Giants.

The 25-year old who hopefully is not yet in his physical prime would have sat behind Manning, and he certainly would have been a better option than rookie Kyle Lauletta or journeyman Alex Tanney.

The Giants didn’t have to choose between a potential future starting quarterback and Barkley. They could have had both, and that stings far more than watching Darnold complete passes during his first season. Imagine how fans will feel if Bridgewater finds a second life for his career replacing Drew Brees or some other proven commodity in 2019 or later down the road.

It’s rare for a winning quarterback not given up on by the Washington Redskins to hit the market, and even more rare for that individual to be on the right side of 30 years old. Regardless of how the Giants play during their final 14 games, not signing Bridgewater could go down as the worst decision made by this front office.