Report: Teddy Bridgewater Didn’t Want to Play in Cleveland Because Not Everyone Was On Board
Arif Hasan
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Evidently, according to the Northeast Ohio Media Group and as reported by Mary Kay Cabot (who has not always been on point when it comes to Cleveland Browns stories), Teddy Bridgewater would have preferred not to be drafted by the Cleveland Browns because of the feeling that he wouldn’t have the full support of the staff behind him.
Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who’s up for Pepsi Rookie of the Year, didn’t want to play for the Browns in part because he knew that not everyone in the organization was on board with drafting him, a league source told Northeast Ohio Media Group.
The source said Bridgewater knew that some in the organization really liked him and that others wanted Johnny Manziel instead.
Despite the fact that the Browns commissioned a $100,000 study on who to draft, one that indicated that Teddy Bridgewater was the best choice, they opted to trade up to the 22nd pick to select Johnny Manziel, whose rookie season has been much more troubling than Bridgewater’s.
According to the report by Cabot, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was not sold on either Bridgewater or Manziel, instead preferring Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo or Pitt quarterback Tom Savage. In addition to the Manziel/Bridgewater split inside the Browns organization, there were evidently people who didn’t like either.
Teddy previously indicated on the Dan Patrick show shortly after the draft that he much preferred Minnesota to Cleveland, but this is the first word as to specifically why he didn’t want to go to Cleveland.
Bridgewater’s rookie season has seemingly panned out well. Props to the Vikings for hiding their dysfunctionality until it was too late to turn back.