Teddy Bridgewater probably won’t spend the 2021 season with the Panthers. A team that should consider trading for him is the Denver Broncos.
The Carolina Panthers made a statement in trading for Sam Darnold and that statement is that Teddy Bridgewater isn’t the answer for them. Bridgewater has two years remaining on a three-year deal he inked with Carolina last year.
Everyone knew that Bridgewater wasn’t the long-term answer for the Panthers and his play backed that up. The former first-round pick out of Louisville threw for 3,733 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in his likely only year with the Panthers and it simply wasn’t good enough for Carolina.
Now with Darnold in a Panthers uniform, the team is likely going to ship Bridgewater to another team and someone who should be interested is the Denver Broncos.
What now for #Panthers QB Teddy Bridgewater? Expect Carolina to look to move him. Either that, or look at options to adjust his contract.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 5, 2021
Teddy Bridgewater would provide quarterback competition for the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos are in a tough spot. They have Drew Lock, who they spent a second-round pick on just two years ago, but Lock hasn’t been the guy the team was hoping he’d be. He also was drafted by John Elway, who is no longer the GM, which isn’t a great sign for Lock’s future as a Bronco.
Trading for Bridgewater gives Denver another viable quarterback who, if nothing else, can push Lock to be better. Maybe threatening to strip him of his starting job would be enough to light a fire under Lock and the Broncos can then start to see more signs of the guy they spent a second-round pick on in the hopes of him becoming their franchise quarterback.
Bridgewater isn’t anything special, but he’s dependable. When Drew Brees went down with an injury in 2019, Bridgewater stepped in and went 5-0 as a starter for the Saints. That was what led to the three-year deal in Carolina, as it proved Bridgewater could win games even in the most uncertain of times.
If the Broncos don’t trade for Bridgewater, they could still hope that one of the five quarterbacks being discussed in the draft fall to them at pick No. 9. This became a more likely scenario, as Carolina might have pulled themselves out of the quarterback sweepstakes by trading for Darnold.
Denver can stick with Drew Lock moving forward, but they need to put decent competition behind him to motivate him and challenge him for his job. This might be the only way the Broncos see progress with Lock and while Bridgewater won’t excite Broncos fans, he’s a reliable quarterback who can do enough to win games and also not make key mistakes that will lose games.