Teddy Bridgewater is part of this story: With Super Bowl 54 over, all eyes will be on where Tom Brady plays next season. The longtime quarterback of the New England Patriots seems content with testing the open market for the first time in his career.
Provided that, fans in New England are undoubtedly anxious to see what Brady chooses to do. Could Brady's time with the Patriots be coming to a sudden end in 2020?
Despite being 42-years-old, there are a handful of teams that would be interested in bringing him in for next season. In that case, the Patriots need to begin having contingency plans in the event that Brady leaves for another team.
Recently, Sheil Kapadia of TheAthletic produced an article highlighting 20 bold predictions for 2020. First and foremost, Kapadia predicts that Brady will take his talents to the Las Vegas Raiders. Again, this is a bold prediction that does have some merit to it.
Of course, the likeliest scenario is that Brady re-signs with New England and ends his career with the team that drafted him. But if he does surprise everyone and leave, who could the Patriots replace him with? To answer that question, here is why Teddy Bridgewater could be the post-Brady answer for the Patriots.
Bridgewater is still 27-years-old and is a serviceable quarterback
Bridgewater began his career in the NFL after being selected with the 32nd overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 NFL Draft. In his first two seasons in the NFL, Bridgewater showed flashes of being a franchise quarterback. At the same time, he didn't show enough to be comfortable with him being a long-term solution.
Then, in 2016, the Lousiville product suffered a devastating leg injury that sidelined him for the entire 2016 season. The injury was serious enough to prevent Bridgewater from starting in any games in 2017 as well.
Due to the injury, the Vikings moved on from Bridgewater in the 2018 offseason. Upon his release, Bridgewater signed with the New Orleans Saints as a backup to Drew Brees. In his two seasons with the Saints, Bridgewater has flashed some potential once again.
Earlier this season, Brees sustained a thumb injury and was out for five weeks. While Brees was out with injury, Bridgewater thrived in Sean Payton's offense as the starting quarterback. As a matter of fact, Bridgewater completed 69.7 percent of his passes for 1,205 yards, nine touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Above all, the Saints went 5-0 while Bridgewater was manning the offense. With him set to hit free agency in March, the Patriots could consider signing him if Brady heads elsewhere.
Even though Bridgewater isn't an elite quarterback by any means, he's still a serviceable quarterback in the NFL. That is more than enough for Josh McDaniels to work with in New England's offense.
Regardless of whether or not Brady returns, the Patriots will add weapons to the offense. As we saw in New Orleans, Bridgewater can perform well when he has reliable targets to throw to. All that being said, the Patriots could do a lot worse than Bridgewater if Brady departs in free agency.
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