Teddy Bridgewater had a dramatic free agency. He appeared all set to return to the Saints, when the Dolphins swooped in with a last second offer to be their starting quarterback. But in the end, he decided to return to New Orleans, potentially setting him up to take over for Drew Brees. In a recent interview with WWL Radio, Bridgewater elaborated on his decision to stay in the Big Easy, per Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. Bridgewater indicated it mostly had to do with how much he enjoyed his time in New Orleans, rather than about potential playing time.
“I told my agents every time that I talked to them that I haven’t stopped smiling since I arrived,” Bridgewater said. They made playing football fun, they made learning the game fun … and that’s something I appreciate. I was able to be part of that for 18 weeks last season, and it was nothing but positive things that occurred,” he continued. It sounds like Bridgewater has bought in to whatever the Saints are promising, and they clearly think very highly of him if they’re giving him $7.25MM to be their backup quarterback.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- The 49ers brought in tight end Chris Gragg for a workout, a source told Matt Maioccio of NBC Sports (Twitter link). An Arkansas product, Gragg was taken by the Bills in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. He spent the next four years in Buffalo, then was with the Jets during the 2017 offseason. Gragg has struggled with injuries, missing the entire 2016 and 2017 seasons while hurt. He spent all of last year out of the league, and this is the first we’ve heard of him in a while. Gragg had his most productive season in 2015, when he caught 12 passes for 150 yards. He’s unlikely to make much of an impact even if San Francisco does opt to sign him.
- The Buccaneers are making a historic move. Tampa Bay is hiring Maral Javadifar and Lori Locust as the first full-time female assistant coaches in franchise history, the team announced in a release. Locust will be an assistant defensive line coach, while Javadifar will be an assistant strength and conditioning coach. The Bucs are now the first team in NFL history to have two women as full-time coaches. New Bucs coach Bruce Arians has emphasized the need for greater diversity on NFL coaching staffs, and is now practicing what he preaches. Arians had said he would do something like this, so it isn’t surprising.
- The Saints are reportedly close to a deal that would bring Jared Cook to New Orleans, but they might not be done adding to their tight end group. The team is “paying close attention” to LSU tight end Foster Moreau today at his pro day, Larry Holder of The Athletic is told (Twitter link). Moreau caught 22 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns at LSU last year.
So Bridgewater a QB lucky enough to get a 2nd chance after a horrific injury rather sign to a team because he enjoys the city rather than getting a shot at starting and getting a chance to redeem your career, must not be a very smart guy.
Meanwhile his bank account has 8 digits, and your 10minute coffee break is just about over
Go be the starter on a team that is in full on tank mode or go be the backup QB for a super bowl contender at $7.25 million……
And said team is set up to compete once you transition into the starter.
Why start? $7m to hold a clipboard until your 35 is a good job; & no CTE.
Says the guy who wrote this incoherent pile of garbage you called a sentence!
You do realize Brees like 40 so dude can make money sit stay healthy and probably take over when Bree done. It a great life
Backup QB is the best job in sports. Tons of money and no wear and tear on body.
Read the interview with Teddy. At only 26, he’s confident that he’ll get another chance to start, and judging by a quote from Payton, made when asked about his QB after Brees, there’s a very good chance Bridgewater will get that chance in New Orleans.
I say this as a somewhat depressed Vikings fan.
Vikings have won 3 straight against Detroit and haven’t lost to the Packers in the past 4 meetings and your depressed?
Playoff-level talent and that finish to the season… I think he has a right to be depressed
I understood the logic behind the Cousins signing, but I wanted the Vikings to use that money to sign Andrew Norwell (I’m assuming he’ll have a better season in his 2nd year with the Jags) and Bridgewater (let’s just forget that I also wanted to re-sign Bradford along with Teddy, and just say that, “Whew! We couldn’t affrd to re-sign Sam, too.”).
Cousins put up the numbers but fulfilled the prophesies of Redskins fans who warned us that he would not take us to the promised land, and now Payton seems to have fallen in love with Teddy like Zimmer did. I have my doubts about Teddy – his leg and his game – but if he does end up being THE guy in NO and succeeds there, there are going to be a lot of depressed and angry Vikings fans.
None of whom were in favor of the Cousins signing, of course. “Cough! Cough!”