Teddy Bridgewater is going to the Broncos. The Panthers have agreed to send the quarterback to Denver in exchange for a sixth-round pick, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. 
As a part of the deal, the Panthers will pay out $7MM of Bridgewater’s salary for the coming year. The Broncos will only take on a fraction of his pay, at $3MM. With the Panthers eating the lion’s share of what’s owed to Bridgewater, the Broncos remain open to quarterbacks in the first-round of Thursday’s draft, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears.
Bridgwater represents new competition for Drew Lock, who was already facing the possibility of competing with rookie QB selected with the No. 9 pick. Last year, Lock’s QBR put him near the bottom of the league. In turn, the Broncos tried to swing a deal for Matthew Stafford, but the Rams beat him to the punch. The Broncos didn’t see Carson Wentz or Sam Darnold as worthwhile upgrades, but Lock’s seat has stayed hot throughout the offseason.
Broncos GM George Paton had an up close look at Bridgewater during his salad days with the Vikings. Paton was with the team when they selected the Louisville product in the first round of the 2014 draft. That familiarity likely put Bridgewater ahead of Gardner Minshew, Jimmy Garoppolo, and other available passers on their wish list.
Bridgewater has two seasons left on the three-year, $63MM deal he inked with Carolina. The 28-year-old (29 in November) completed 69% of his passes in 2020 with just 15 touchdown throws. While the Panthers chose Darnold’s upside over another year with the veteran, he still profiles as a solid alternative to Lock.
The Panthers now own the No. 191 overall pick, but the real upside comes in the form of financial relief. Now, GM Scott Fitterer has a few more dollars to work with, plus a substantially lighter cap for 2022. Meanwhile, Darnold may have a little more confidence moving forward as he looks to reboot his career in the NFC South.
woah rip Drew Lock
For a 6th!!!! way to swing it my boys broncos
Panthers probably wanted anything to get out from that huge deal teddy had.
its only cheap this year, 21 million for next year.
Denver just restructured and got rid of that 21 million for next year
A sixth rounder, and Teddys only going to cost them 3mil. This is a great deal.
Broncos in theory are giving Lock another chance and getting an insurance policy. Teddy and Drew compete for starters job. Drew can continue to learn and get better.
Come the end of the season if they still don’t think Drew is there guy they don’t need to stay with him. Come the end of the season if Teddy plays well then maybe they bring him back.
Can only be a good result and it only cost them a 6th
He’s also due $21 mil next year
Is that guaranteed?
Not anymore. Denver restructured his deal
6-11 at best.
They went 5-11 without Miller, Sutton, Peko, James and Casey. They now have upgraded at QB, brought in Kyle Fuller and Ronald Darby at CB and have a pick inside the top 10 in the draft. Not to mention the Raiders in their conference just got a lot worse.
I think Denver goes 8-9 or possibly 9-8
and another one gone, another one bites the dust. Looks like one less QB hungry team for now. Good deal for Denver not so much for Carolina they sold cheap.
Wonder what this could mean for the draft. Highly doubt they go QB now but could be wrong. They could want Lance but could be thinking be willing be gone to SF
Is Jordan Love better than any of the QBs in this year’s draft? Should the Jets consider trading for Love instead of taking Wilson?
No way the packers trade love . He their future. Why would they draft him just to trade him a year later
Because it’ll make Aaron happy? And it’s all about keeping Aaron happy?
If the Packers cared about keeping Aaron happy then they never would have drafted Love in the first place.
Rodgers seems more focused on finding a way to become permanent host of Jeopardy than what the Packers are planning to do with Jordan Love.
Since my name is Aaron and I’m a Jet fan, I wouldn’t mind the Jets trading James Morgan and their second round pick (#34) for Jordan Love. So, it would make this Aaron happy. Of course, they’d have to follow that up by trading down from #2 with anyone but the Patriots.
Zach Wilson could wind up being a star, but I feel getting protection and/or weapons for the QB is more important. With a trade down, the top protection (i.e., Sewell or Slater) and weapons (i.e., Pitts or Chase) will most likely be gone by time any potential trade partner would pick. Future first rounders could be great, but the chances of any of this happening are minimal.
I figured Denver was a good bet to draft a QB this year, guess not. Carolina probably won’t, either, and I doubt really think Detroit will. I was hoping there would be five drafted before my Giants pick, but now I’m thinking that after 1-3, we might not see another QB until the Pats at 15.
I think the bridgewater deal gives them options come day 1. I don’t think it precludes them from taking a QB if one slides. Or they’ve already discussed moving up and realized the price is to high. But this gives them options more than anything else
I live in Denver and it sounds like the Broncos didn’t want to pay the price it would take for them to move up. So instead they went with Bridgewater, at a much cheaper price, to give Lock some veteran competition.
And at a comparable rate of return to what they’d get from one of available QBs. Lance and Fields will certainly need development, Jones will need less, but figures to have a lower ceiling than the other two. No need to force a pick for addressing a position instead of pursuing a specific player.
I was hoping they’d go for Minshew, but Bridgewater is alright as an option as well. The difference is that Bridgewater makes the team angle for a long term heir in the future, whether that’s an improved Lock or someone who hasn’t been drafted yet. Minshew would provide some sort of possibility that he could compete for a long term starting role due to his youth. Bridgewater obviously won’t, which still puts Denver in the picker’s seat when it comes to finding a franchise QB.
Bridgewater > Lock ….. matters none though because ….. Bridgewater < Herbert, Carr or Mahomes
It matters ….. Broncos defense under Vic Fangio > than Chargers, Raiders and Chiefs defenses. Broncos Wide Receiver Group > Chargers, Raiders, Chiefs …. Kelce is a tight end.
I was just curious if Love was better than the QBs this year. Jets could even trade #2 to Packers. GB could take Chase to help Rodgers.
Love and GB’s first round pick + additional picks? There’s no way in hell the Jets make that trade straight up. Joe Douglas has made his decision. He’ll pick Wilson.
Bridgewater is fine. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Panthers better have plenty of duct tape to keep Darnold in one piece because they have absolutely nothing behind him on the depth chart now.
Maybe they’re planning on a QB in a later round as a backup plan.
That’s why they’re going to draft Kyle Trask, duh.
What I want to know is why is Teddy bothering to wear a mask with his nose uncovered??
He’s outdoors in the middle of a football field with probably no one within 10′ of him. If someone comes over, he can pull his mask up. I do this all the time (especially as someone with glasses, and especially outdoors) and I’m sure a lot of others do as well.
Yeah, the glasses part is no joke.
What I want to know is why is Teddy bothering to wear a mask with his nose uncovered?? What gives?
Googling “salad days”…
This sets the table for the Broncos to move back with the Eagles, Patriots, etc…
BBC
This is a great trade trade for the Broncos. The only thing I question is the timing. If you could have waited until Friday or later, you might have gotten more from trading back in the 1st(if they do so). By completing the trade before the draft, you have tipped your hand just a little. You also might have been able to force another team to make a desperate trade to get get ahead of you if a QB starts to slide.
I hate Denver, so it pains me to say this- but this is a good move for them. The Broncos are a pretty good team, aside from having had maybe the worst QB group in the league. If Bridgewater can just be a middling QB, they’ll take a big step forward.
The most surprising thing about this is that Paton did just what he said he would do about 10 days ago, i.e., “bring in some veteran competition”.
Usually teams don’t say anything so definite about their future plans.