NFL Free Agency 2020: Best landing spot for top 20 players

Teddy Bridgewater has had a wild ride over his first six NFL seasons since being taken with the final pick in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 NFL Draft. A rookie starter, Bridgewater was a Pro Bowler and a playoff quarterback in 2015 before his career was nearly ended by a torn ACL and a dislocated left knee just before the start of the 2016 season.

Bridgewater played nine snaps over the next two seasons and the Vikings moved on. Bridgewater signed with the New York Jets in the spring of 2018 but was traded late in the preseason to the New Orleans Saints to back up Drew Brees.

Bridgewater played only 71 snaps in 2018, starting the season finale against in 2018, but when Brees injured his right thumb in a Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Bridgewater started the next five games for New Orleans.

The Saints went 5-0 over that stretch, with Bridgewater throwing for 1,205 yards and nine touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 69.7 percent of his throws. He took nine sacks in those five games, five in a 12-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4. His passer rating in those five starts of 103.7 was 15 points higher than his 88.7 mark in 2015.

There was some thought Bridgewater could be back with the Saints, but that became less likely when Brees announced last week via Instagram he would be returning for his 20th NFL season.

But the Tennessee Titans are losing not one, but two, starting quarterbacks. Marcus Mariota is the former No. 2 overall pick who is a free agent and Ryan Tannehill took over for Mariota last season and led Tennessee to a playoff berth and two January wins before disaster struck at Kansas City in the AFC Championship.

The Titans would be well served, however, to look to the future, with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reporting last week that there are multiple teams viewing Bridgewater as a viable option.

While I’m not a big one for the “quarterback wins” statistic, Bridgewater’s teams are 22-11 when he is the undisputed starter (17-11 with Minnesota, 5-0 with the Saints, throwing out the we’re-resting-everyone game against the Panthers in 2018).

There are other alternatives for Bridgewater, as well, including the New England Patriots (should Tom Brady sign elsewhere), Carolina (should they move on from former MVP Cam Newton) or the Chicago Bears (should the organization not be as bullish on Mitch Trubisky as they want us to believe).

But the Titans might just be the best fit of them all.