The Minnesota Vikings decided to not pick up the fifth-year option on Teddy Bridgewater’s rookie contract, but that does not mean they are planning to let the quarterback leave via free agency next offseason. However, there is now a very real possibility that the situation could turn ugly.
Bridgewater is still recovering from a devastating knee injury he suffered prior to last season, and the Vikings are unsure of when he will return. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explained, Bridgewater’s contract will toll if he misses six games in 2017, which is now the final year on the deal. A provision in the Collective Bargaining Agreement states that a player’s contract tolls if he remains on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list through the first six games of the regular season in the final year of his deal.
What does that mean? Basically, if Bridgewater cannot play in the first six games of 2017, he’ll remain under contract in 2018 at the same base salary. That base salary is an extremely team-friendly $1.345 million, so you can understand why the Vikings might want that to happen. On the flip side, you can see why Bridgewater and his agents will want to avoid it at any cost.
With that in mind, it’s fair to wonder if the Vikings and Bridgewater will “disagree” on whether or not the 24-year-old needs to begin the 2017 season on the PUP list. A PUP designation to begin the year requires a player to be held out for six weeks, and Minnesota doesn’t have a buy until Week 9. So if Bridgewater begins the year on PUP, his contract is guaranteed to toll.
A source with knowledge of the contract situation told Florio that the belief is there could be a “huge” battle between the Vikings and the NFL Players Association over Bridgewater’s deal.
Based on what Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said recently, it does not sound like the team wants this to be Bridgewater’s last year in Minnesota. Time will tell if the two sides can keep their relationship civil while Bridgewater attempts to get back into playing shape.
