Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule put a swift end to the Deshaun Watson trade rumors.
Rhule told reporters Wednesday the Panthers have not moved off Teddy Bridgewater as the starting quarterback:
“He’s our quarterback,” Rhule said, via Darin Gantt of Panthers.com. “Nothing’s changed since the offseason.”
The second-year head coach also hailed Bridgewater as a “tremendous professional, and a tremendous person,” per Gantt.
Previous reports suggested the Panthers were going to be “aggressive” in their pursuit of Watson, and there was also a rumor the Houston Texans star would approve a trade to Carolina.
However, Rhule made a point of throwing his support behind Bridgewater, whom the Panthers signed to a three-year, $63 million deal last spring.
This is a bit of a different tone from the one Rhule struck back in January. He suggested in January that Bridgewater would need an excellent offseason to retain the QB1 spot:
“Ever since he got hurt in the second half of the Tampa Bay game, Teddy hasn’t played his best football,” Rhule said, via Bill Voth of the Panthers. “My encouragement to him has been, ‘Hey, you’ve got to have a great offseason.’”
Bridgewater had fairly strong numbers on the surface. He completed over 69 percent of his attempts for over 3,700 yards, averaging 7.6 yards gained per pass attempt. However, Bridgewater also threw just just 15 touchdowns and, to Rhule's point, struggled in his last five games. The Panthers went 1-4 in those games to finish 5-11.
There is still a possibility Carolina could take a quarterback in the first round of the 2021 NFL, but it does not appear a Watson trade is in the cards.
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