The New Orleans Saints chose to make Teddy Bridgewater the highest-paid backup quarterback in football this year, and their decision was validated when he led the team to five straight wins while filling in as the starter for Drew Brees. Now, the 26-year-old could parlay that into a massive contract in free agency.
Bridgewater is set to become a free agent after the season, and NFL executives told Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report that they expect a quarterback-needy team to shell out somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 to $30 million per year for him. Freeman speculates that there will be plenty of teams lining up to sign Bridgewater, and he considers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots and Chicago Bears to be three of the top potential suitors.
Bridgewater stepped in for the Saints after Brees injured his thumb, and he threw nine touchdown passes compared to just two interceptions through his five-game stretch as the team’s starter. He helped keep New Orleans squarely in the playoff hunt and showed he had command of one of the best offenses in football, which is likely one of the main reasons teams are impressed with his performance.
It has now been more than three years since Bridgewater suffered a devastating knee injury, and he finally looks healthy. He has maintained a great mentality throughout the entire process and had no problem gambling on himself as a backup. Now, he should be able to finally cash in.
