An Old Friend Could Join the Vikings Rival
General manager Rick Spielman made some great picks and also selected some busts in his tenure in Minnesota. He joined the Vikings in 2006 as vice president of player personnel and was let go in January of 2022 as the general manager, a position he officially began in 2012.
An Old Friend Could Join the Vikings Rival
Spielman oversaw many drafts. Justin Jefferson was probably his best pick in 2021 and finding Stefon Diggs in the fifth round in 2015 was a miracle — something Diggs was also responsible for in the 2017 playoffs.
However, some picks didn’t work out. Some of them are because of injuries, and we’ll never know what could’ve happened without them, like Sharrif Floyd, whose botched knee surgery ended his career. Also basically ending his Vikings career with a knee injury was Teddy Bridgewater. The quarterback was drafted by Spielman in the first round in 2014. Spielman traded up into the first round to select the Louisville passer with pick 32.
Bridgewater visited the Detroit Lions on Monday, according to Ian Rapoport: “The Lions hosted FA QB Teddy Bridgewater today, per the wire. There has been interest for some time.”
The Lions are a strange team to look for a quarterback as they employ Jared Goff and picked Hendon Hooker early in the third round of the draft. Nate Sufeld is currently the backup if Hooker doesn’t return in time from his ACL injury.
Solid game management has always been Bridgewater’s strength. He rarely made any game-changing plays, but he also took care of the ball. His playing style and character made head coach Mike Zimmer fall in love with his young signal caller.
Unfortunately for both, Bridgewater suffered a serious knee injury a week before the season opener in 2016 after looking sharp in training camp and the preseason. Many expected a breakout season from him.
The Vikings traded for Sam Bradford, who guided the team to an 8-8 season. He also looked great in Week 1 in 2017 but went down with his own knee issues, and it became the Case Keenum show for the remainder of the season. Everyone expected him to trip at some point and open the door for Bridgewater late in the year, who returned from his injury, but it never happened.
Kirk Cousins was signed, Keenum left for the Denver Broncos, and Bradford joined the Cardinals. Bridgewater moved on to the New York Jets but was traded to the New Orleans Saints to be Drew Brees’ backup before the season began, where he spent two years. After some solid performances in relief of Brees, Bridgewater signed with the Panthers and stayed in the NFC South in 2020, and had a stint with the Broncos in 2021 before moving to Miami to be the backup for Tua Tagovailoa.
Bridgewater could return to Minnesota in Week 16 on Christmas Eve when the Lions come to town. The quarterback played in 30 games with the Vikings, starting in 28. He threw for 6,150 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions. In his whole career, he has produced 75 passing TDs and 15,120 yards.
The Lions are the favorites to win the NFC North despite the Vikings coming from a 13-4 season under first-year head coach Kevin O’Connell. Bridgewater would be an insurance policy for the possibility of Goff missing time at some point in the season. He has proven with the Saints that he can win a few games and keep a good team on the playoff course.
After a promising start to his career with the hope of turning into a franchise quarterback, Bridgewater turned into a journeyman backup instead. He has been a high-end backup or low-end starter for a while now, and Vikings fans can only wonder if it had been different without the knee injury in 2016.
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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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