Teddy Bridgewater Trade: Winners and Losers
The Carolina Panthers have traded Teddy Bridgewater to the Denver Broncos for a sixth-round pick. It seems like a steal for the Broncos, but there are actual multiple winners and losers from this trade. Let's take a look.
WINNERS:
Denver Broncos
The Broncos now have a real starting quarterback. Bridgewater is a guy who has been to the playoffs with the Minnesota Vikings. He's contributed on a good New Orleans Saints team and had a chance to learn from Sean Payton and Drew Brees. He's a veteran, but he's only 28. And he's locked in for this and next season at a not-unreasonable salary for a starting quarterback.
New England Patriots
With the Broncos landing a legitimate starting quarterback, they are much less likely to pick a quarterback with the eighth pick in the draft on Thursday. That makes it just a little more likely that one of the five top quarterbacks could slide into New England's lap without them having to do anything.
Carolina Panthers
No quarterback controversy in Carolina. Matt Rhule has his guy in Sam Darnold and they picked up another pick while letting Darnold know they were serious about him. Now Darnold doesn't have to look over his shoulder and Rhule doesn't have to answer those awkward questions that lead to answers about how we could all be dead by then anyway. Instead they can focus on their already strong Darnold social media game.
The Big Lead
In a recent article about possible landing spots for Bridgewater, I named the Broncos as one of four potential destinations for the quarterback. A couple days later Ryan Philips went on the record during an episode of FanSided's Sport & Order and said Bridgewater would play in Denver this season. And just last week Liam McKeone called the Broncos-Bridgewater a perfect fit. Quite frankly, we nailed this one.
Teddy Bridgewater
Oh yeah, he's a winner too. As explained in the clip above, it's a very nice spot for a quarterback looking to throw some passes. The Broncos have been looking for a QB for years and they picked up one for a sixth-round pick. There's no way they were getting someone this good with that pick and they still have the ninth pick and they can use that for something besides a quarterback.
LOSERS:
Mock Drafts
I'm sorry? Did you spend hours researching and refining a mock draft assuming that the Denver Broncos needed a starting quarterback with the ninth pick? Too bad. Throw those out the window and start over. And just wait for another trade to screw that one up.
Drew Lock
If the Broncos had drafted a rookie, Lock could have understood that. He would have had a chance to win the job in a good old-fashioned quarterback competition. But to bring in a veteran like Bridgewater with that kind of experience and contract? That says starter. If Bridgewater can't easily win the starting job, the Broncos threw away a sixth-round pick. Assuming he does, Lock's time in Denver is over.
Chicago Bears
That's right the Chicago Bears missed out on another legitimate NFL quarterback. Heck, they could have doubled the price the Broncos paid and still had two sixth-rounders left in their pocket this weekend.
Teddy Bridgewater traded to Denver for a 6th-round pick. #Bears have 4 6th-rounders. Could have traded 1 of those for Bridgewater. (Instead they're paying Andy Dalton $10M this year) Meanwhile Robert Quinn's (2 sacks in 2020) cap hit for this year is $15M. It's all messed up.
— Flo Ottis (@flo_ottis) April 28, 2021
Please do not let Bears' fans read this far.