What does Teddy Bridgewater to New Orleans mean for Tampa Bay?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw their NFC South rival New Orleans Saints, acquire Teddy Bridgewater, from the New York Jets, for a third round draft pick in 2019. There was some chatter last week from a few national media outlets that Tampa Bay should look at Bridgewater, but if you followed the Buccaneers in anyway this preseason, you’d know the team was extremely comfortable and happy with their quarterback position.

So what does this move really mean for Tampa Bay, and how does it impact them?

We had some varying opinions in our Bucs Nation private chat on Twitter, but in my opinion, this move didn’t really make me flinch. Drew Brees just signed a two year contract this offseason and it’s likely that he will finish out that contract. As long as Brees is in New Orleans, he will be the starting quarterback. I bring up Brees and his contract because it impacts Bridgewater and his situation. It’s not like Bridgewater is on a long term contract. Bridgewater is only on a one year contract, so he will be an unrestricted free agent come next March.

Barring any injury to Brees during the regular season, it’s quite possible that Bridgewater may not even take a snap under center for the Saints.

Also, I saw quite a few people on Twitter acting like Bridgewater is the next best thing in this league. Of course, everyone is rooting for the guy after his near career ending injury back in 2016, but we need to take a second and realize what Bridgewater is.

He’s an average quarterback at best and his stats prove it. He’s had a solid preseason, but it was also against vanilla defenses and very little, if any game planning. During his rookie season, Bridgewater started 12 games. He threw for 2,919 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In his second season, he started all 16 games and threw for 3,231 yards with 14 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He did go 11-5 in his second season, but he also had one of the best running games in the league and a stout defense.

If you were asked what quarterback you’d rather face twice a year, Brees or Bridgewater, I’d bet 99.9% of you would say Bridgewater. He doesn’t put any fear into me like Brees does.

Again, he may never even play a snap for the Saints, but if he does wind up being their long term option, I would gladly face him twice a year.