Where could we see veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater land in free agency after his lone season with the Denver Broncos?
One veteran quarterback that will be available in 2022 NFL Free Agency is former first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater comes with very little fanfare at this point because the perception from most NFL fans and pundits is that he has reached the proverbial ceiling of what he can give you as a player.
And that is mostly fair.
Bridgewater, at least statistically, has been the epitome of “average” at the quarterback position, occasionally hovering above average and often dipping below.
As frustrating as it may be for many NFL fan bases, there is no shortage of teams in the NFL right now that will pay top-dollar for even average quarterback play. Most fans will gripe about a speculative post like this for two reasons.
1. They don’t want their favorite team to sign Teddy Bridgewater to start.
2. They won’t be able to stomach the amount of money he’s likely to get.
In the 2021 season with the Denver Broncos, Bridgewater completed 66.9 percent of his passes with 18 passing touchdowns, a pair of rushing touchdowns, and seven interceptions. His 18 touchdown passes were the most in a single season for his NFL career. His interception percentage of 1.6 percent is the lowest he’s had in his career as a full-time starter.
What’s that worth to an NFL team?
Right now, the low-end starters in the NFL are in murky water as it relates to contracts. A player like Andy Dalton just got $10 million from the Chicago Bears as a bridge player, but Dalton also was coming off of two very down years with the Bengals.
There’s a huge gap in average annual value between Derek Carr (just over $25 million) and the next veteran starter tier like Taysom Hill, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Andy Dalton (all $10 million).
Bridgewater is literally going to have to bridge that gap in 2022. Will he get closer to $10 million or $25 million? The reality is, he’s likely going to get closer to $25 million per year, but not likely on a long-term deal.
Let’s split the difference for the time being and guesstimate that Bridgewater will sign for $18 million per year in the 2022 offseason.
Who is he signing with?