Teddy Bridgewater Odds Suggest He Will Start Somewhere Week 1

• Teddy Bridgewater is a free agent this year, and odds say he will start somewhere Week 1.
• Bridgewater’s free-agent stock improved greatly after a strong 2019 season backing up Drew Brees.
• Likely landing spots include the Colts, Chargers, Patriots, and Buccaneers.

NEW ORLEANS – After backing up New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees in 2019, Teddy Bridgewater became a free agent this offseason and will have a new home in 2020. According to oddsmakers, Bridgewater is likely to land a starting gig wherever he ends up.

Likely landing spots for Bridgewater include the Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Chargers, and New England Patriots, all of whom saw regressing quarterback play in 2019.

The Patriots are still likely to retain Tom Brady as their starter, but the Chargers are parting ways with longtime starter Philip Rivers and the Colts are likely open to replacing current starter Jacoby Brissett, whose production was decent but below expectation in 2019.

Bridgewater had a successful stint as the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in 2014 and 2015 before a brutal offseason leg injury prior to the 2016 season threatened his career. By the time he had fully recovered from his injury, he no longer had a job.

The Vikings signed Kirk Cousins prior to the 2018 season and shipped Bridgewater to New Orleans for a third-round pick.

Because he performed admirably in replacement duty for the Saints, Bridgewater is one of the top available free agent quarterbacks in this year’s class. Oddsmakers give him a roughly 63% chance to win a starting gig wherever he signs.

There are a number of NFL teams with a pressing quarterback need for 2020. Some will undoubtedly choose to address this need through the 2020 NFL Draft, but others will opt for the security and short-term benefit of a free agent signing.

Teddy Bridgewater 2020 Season Props

It is hard to say how much of Bridgewater’s 2019 success was due to the Saints’ offensive scheme and personnel and how much was due to his own growth as a player, but his Quarterback rating increased from 88.7 in his last year as the Vikings’ starter to 99.1.

The Saints went 5-0 in games started by Bridgewater, although their average yards per play dipped from 5.9 to 5.6 in these games.

Bridgewater was very accurate in 2019, with a completion rate near 70% and over 80% of his passes being considered “on target” per Pro Football Reference’s advanced passing metrics. Only 12% of his throws were considered “bad”, per those same metrics.

His play still doesn’t qualify as elite, but he is good enough that adding him should appeal to mid-level playoff contenders hoping to earn at least a Wild Card spot and an outside shot at climbing the Super Bowl odds boards.

There has been endless speculation about Bridgewater’s ultimate landing spot, and sportsbooks have capitalized by offering a variety of different prop bets on his offseason journey. Here are a few notable ones, per BetOnline: