TRADE: Panthers Trade Teddy Bridgewater To Broncos For Sixth-Round Pick

According to Tom Pelissero, the Panthers have traded QB Teddy Bridgewater to the Broncos for a sixth-round pick. 

Pelissero adds Carolina will pay some of Bridgewater’s salary to facilitate the deal. He had $10 million guaranteed on his deal in 2021.

Adam Schefter says Carolina will pay $7 million of that figure and Denver will be responsible for $3 million. Josina Anderson adds the final year of Bridgewater’s deal will be eliminated and he’ll be a free agent after the season. 

Schefter adds this does not take the Broncos out of the running to draft a quarterback this weekend. 

Bridgewater clearly was on the outs in Carolina after their trade for Sam Darnold and Denver made a lot of sense as a trade destination given their need for a veteran.

New Broncos GM George Paton also was part of the front office that drafted Bridgewater in the first-round back with the Vikings. 

It’ll be interesting to see how this affects the Broncos’ plans at quarterback in the draft. For now, Bridgewater is slated to compete with incumbent Broncos QB Drew Lock. 

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 was 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.