Despite being the Denver Broncos’ best quarterback since Peyton Manning hung up his cleats following the 2015 season, Teddy Bridgewater quickly became one of the most disliked members of the team, inside Broncos Country.
Now, the fan’s distaste for Bridgewater despite his relative shouldn’t be too surprising, as he was still a problem area on the roster last year, and being the best Broncos quarterback since 2015 is an exceptionally low bar.
Those fans might be singing a different tune in 2022 though.
According to Pro Football Focus, one of the preeminent resources for NFL data, Bridgewater is one of the best options available for the Broncos — or any team for that matter — this offseason.
PFF has Bridgewater ranked as the second-best free-agent quarterback, with only Jameis Winston slotted ahead of him.
Now, Bridgewater’s ranking shouldn’t fool you into thinking PFF has an especially high opinion of him. They don’t.
“For quarterback-needy teams desperate for a starter who can lead them to the promised land, free agency typically isn’t the first port of call,” PFF’s Sam Monson wrote. “That’s no less true this season than any other. Jameis Winston and Teddy Bridgewater were starters last season, but Bridgewater demonstrated a very real ceiling to his game.”
Monson is unsure if Bridgewater will even be starting next season, writing that he likely played himself into a backup job with his 2021 performance.
However, it should be telling that they have an even lower opinion of his free-agent peers.
That leaves the Broncos with the NFL Draft — which projects to be the worst quarterback class since the 2013 class that produced little outside Geno Smith — or a premium trade option if they want to upgrade from Bridgewater, and neither of those options are looking especially appealing at this point.
All signs are pointing towards Aaron Rodgers returning to Green Bay, Kirk Cousins returning to Minnesota, which means, unless you’re the lucky team to add Russell Wilson, you’re looking at giving up draft capital for Carson Wentz or Jimmy Garropolo — two quarterbacks who have recently failed despite being in perfect scenarios for success.
