Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Panthers GM Scott Fitterer spoke with QB Teddy Bridgewater and explained that they would allow him to seek a trade out of Carolina before they agreed to the deal with the Jets for Sam Darnold.
Rapoport expects Bridgewater to surface with a team in need of a good backup quarterback.
Multiple teams are interested in a trade for Bridgewater, according to Rapoport, but he will likely have to cut his salary down to around $10 million guaranteed for the 2021 season.
While Rapoport doesn’t offer any specifics regarding who these teams are, there has been speculation in recent days about Bridgewater possibly surfacing with someone like the Broncos or Saints.
Bridgewater, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Vikings back in 2014. He played out the final year of his four-year, $6,849,502 rookie contract after Minnesota declined to pick up his fifth-year option.
Bridgewater signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Jets that included just $500,000 guaranteed. However, the Jets later traded him to the Saints during the preseason and he returned to New Orleans in 2019 on another one-year contract.
The Panthers signed Bridgewater to a three-year, $63 million contract in 2020. He is set to make base salaries of $17 million and $20 million over the final two years of the deal.
In 2020, Bridgewater appeared in 15 games for the Panthers and completed 69.1 percent of his passes for 3,733 yards, 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also rushed for 279 yards and five touchdowns.
We’ll have more on Bridgewater as the news is available.
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