Brian Westerholt / Associated Press
Now that Sam Darnold is a member of the Carolina Panthers, the natural question is where the 20-year-old Panther striker, Teddy Bridgewater, will play in 2021.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, there are several teams interested in the 28-year-old, but the finances are difficult.
According to Spotrac, the Panthers would still owe Bridgewater $ 10 million in the event of a trade, but they could push $ 5 million of that in 2022 if they handled it after June 1. Regardless, Bridgewater’s new team would put about $ 13 million on the hook. next season, which is not bad for an appetizer with a career percentage of 66.5, a ratio between the distinctions between 53 and 36 and a record of 26 to 23.
‘We are going to find the right place [for Bridgewater]”Whether it’s here or somewhere else,” Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer told The Athletic’s last week Joe Person. The next day, Rapoport reported that the organization spoke to Bridgewater and “gave him the opportunity to speak with teams to facilitate a trade possible.”
Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press
With all this in mind and the Panthers were prepared – in the words of Matt Rhule’s head coach – to ‘wait and see how things play out’, to the best potential destinations for the first round in 2014.
Warning: this is a list that includes more than a quarter of the league. And you really can not exclude the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants. Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and Washington Football Team, all of whom can view Bridgewater as a valuable upgrade in the QB2 spot.
The price will probably be a little too steep if other expenses for those teams are considered, but you never know. And even the Jets made a lot of sense, but were not there, because you would think they would have just asked for Bridgewater as part of the Darnold trade.
Instead, we focused on the nine teams that seem most obvious, with explanations for each.
Dallas Cowboys
Dallas saw his season in the drain when Dak Prescott was injured in October, and he does not have a quality assurance policy in place after Andy Dalton was lost in the free agent market. The Cowboys are unlikely to be Bridgewater’s first choice, as Prescott is permanently locked up as the QB1, but it’s an attractive football environment and Jerry Jones could make a strong pitch.
Brandon Wade / Associated Press
However, this is the lowest point of the list due to Prescott’s presence, as well as the fact that the Cowboys, according to Spotrac, have less than $ 10 million in salary.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos have yet to win the competition for young Drew Lock, but they have made no secret of the fact that they are looking for it. The new general manager of the Broncos, George Paton, was working in the Vikings front office when they drafted Bridgewater in 2014 and has enough room to make a deal work.
However, it’s likely to be a move to June 1, as the Broncos may want to wait to see if they lose a game of quarterback music chairs in the first round of the draft.
Houston Texans
It all depends on what happens to Texan quarterback Deshaun Watson, who is on trial on 22 civil lawsuits that accused him of sexual assault or misconduct and sought a trading profit before the allegations became public. The Texans need to realize that there is a good chance that Watson will not be the first quarter to come in Week 1, which could allow them to compete for veteran Tyrod Taylor.
Taylor, however, is a relatively new addition, and there is so much in the air with Watson that the Tex-band with cap-band will probably wait until we are far beyond the concept before considering alternatives.
New England Patriots
It will probably only come later if / if the Patriots come out of the draft without competition for veteran Cam Newton. Bill Belichick may want something better than Jarrett Stidham in support of Newton, especially since the Patriots have indicated this off-season that they are going all in on an effort to get back into the Super Bowl picture in 2021.
Ashley Landis / Associated Press
Bridgewater, Jimmy Garoppolo, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, and the backing of Las Vegas Raiders, Marcus Mariota, will all make sense for New England to strive for, and even after an issue in March, they have more than $ 20 million in the space to make one of the two. things happen.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints were Bridgewater’s last employer before jumping to Carolina last season. And although they brought Jameis Winston back to work with Taysom Hill at the start of the era after the Drew Brees, they may be tempted to add Bridgewater again and create a fierce competition between several intriguing quarterbacks.
Money was a problem for New Orleans earlier this season, but the Saints have done great work and are now higher than the median in terms of the cap. The only other question is whether the Panthers want to handle Bridgewater within the division.
Philadelphia Eagles
Philly indicated that Jalen Hurts might be completely right if he picked the No. 6 overall and that the addition of veteran Joe Flacco would likely take the Eagles out of the Bridgewater draw anyway. But the Eagles now have some room for maneuver for salaries, and Bridgewater is a more viable challenger for Hurts than the 36-year-old Flacco.
At this point, it’s hard to rule anything out with the unpredictable, potentially unstable Eagles.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger is 39 and the Steelers still lack the concept capital to secure a long-term replacement for him under central. Dwayne Haskins and Mason Rudolph are also in the rankings, but it’s hard to get excited about one of the guys at this point.
Don Wright / Associated Press
Bridgewater would be a much more reliable option during a Super Bowl-of-bust season in 2021, and he would have the chance to win the job if Big Ben retires in a year. Considering that the Steelers are suddenly sixth in the league in terms of salary branch, he might be worth a chance.
San Francisco 49ers
We all know the 49ers will set up a third consecutive third, and they said they could keep Garoppolo as a bridge. But why pay Jimmy G $ 26.4 million if you can cut or trade him for only $ 2.8 million and bring in Bridgewater for less than half the total of $ 26.4 million?
If I’m John Lynch general manager of 49ers, I’ll call the Panthers right away and offer one of my three fifth round picks for Bridgewater. If you accept this, you save a lot of cash by swapping one bridge for another at a relatively low cost in terms of capital.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bruce Arians, Bucs head coach told the media in September that Bridgewater was on the team’s radar before signing Tom Brady. Brady is going nowhere after winning his seventh Super Bowl in his debut season with Tampa Bay, but he is currently the only quarterback in the Bucs series and Bridgewater would be much cheaper this time around.
Again, it is unlikely that Panthers will trade Bridgewater within the NFC South unless they have no choice, but that is not an impossible scenario, and you would at least expect Tampa to be first place if Bridgewater were the open market. reach.
I know what you’re thinking: but Steve, what about trade compensation? First of all, dear reader, my name is Brad, not Steve. But more importantly, we are not looking at the ransom of a king for the Panthers. We’re talking about concept capital that’s late.
Several teams are reportedly interested in Bridgewater, but that will likely amount to timing. Who is waiting for June 1st? Or does the Panthers prefer to get it done before the draft? In which case, who will pull the trigger now? The other factor will simply be who is willing to pay for a good-not-great quarterback who is not widely regarded as a long-term franchise signal caller because Bridgewater is not cheap by these standards.
Brad Gagnon has the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012. Follow him on Twitter: @Brad_Gagnon.