Patriots need to avoid trading for Teddy Bridgewater to solve QB vacancy

If the New England Patriots want to move on from Cam Newton after his inconsistent 2020 season, look for Bill Belichick to explore the trade market for veteran quarterbacks.

One name that has started to trickle into the rumor mill is Carolina Panthers starter Teddy Bridgewater, who still has two years left on his $63 million contract.

Bridgewater reunited with former Saints assistant Joe Brady after the former Vikings first-round pick’s impressive cameo as the starter following an injury to Drew Brees in New Orleans.

Bridgewater completed 69% of his passes and set new career highs in passing yards (3,733), passing touchdowns (15), and rushing touchdowns (five).

Unfortunately, Carolina won just five games in 2020, and their No. 8 pick in the 2021 draft means that Matt Rhule could take a potential franchise quarterback, all the while kicking Bridgewater to the curb after just one season.

Considering how the San Francisco 49ers gave Carolina a buzz about Bridgewater, it’s reasonable to assume if New England would consider adding him. Unfortunately for the Patriots, doing so likely won’t move the needle in 2021.

Teddy Bridgewater wouldn’t be a great fit with the Patriots.

Bridgewater’s numbers look somewhat impressive, especially with no Christian McCaffery, but they can be a bit deceiving. Brady did such a good job that he earned some head coaching interviews at just 31 years old. Even without McCaffrey, Bridgewater was throwing to one of the best wide receiver trios in football in DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, and Curtis Samuel. Think that’s dramatic? Check out the numbers:

• Moore: 66 catches, 1,193 yards, four touchdowns
• Anderson: 95 catches, 1,096 yards, three touchdowns
• Samuel: 77 catches, 851 yards, three touchdowns

All of that help and Bridgewater, though he had a bad offensive line, threw just 15 TDs to 11 INTs.

While the veteran has shown he’s deadly accurate and able to make plays on the run, his arm strength is below league average. In the harsh New England winter wind, Bridgewater could have trouble challenging defenses down the field.

The fact of the matter is that he was an average quarterback last season, and that was with excellent coaching and a potent receiving game. If Bridgewater goes to New England, he’ll be placed into a very rudimentary passing game with arguably the worst group of receivers in football (unless the Pats majorly upgrade). Moore and Anderson are much better vertical deep threats than, say, Jakobi Meyers and whatever is left of Julian Edelman.

Bridgewater will have a long career in this league as a backup and spot starter, as he’s too darn accurate to simply toss away. However, New England needs to find a long-term solution at quarterback, and Bridgewater has a much lower ceiling than some of the other options that the Pats could potentially look toward.