Early Teddy Bridgewater contract details reveal reasonable deal for Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions’ signing of Teddy Bridgewater has yet to be made official, but early information on the backup quarterback’s contract has already started to leak to the media. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Bridgewater’s deal is worth “a maximum of” $5 million with half of that—$2.5 million—guaranteed.

To put that into perspective, the Lions’ current backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld is on a one-year, $1.6 million contract with $1 million of that guaranteed. Other notable backup quarterback contacts across the league include Marcus Mariota (1-year, $5 million, all guaranteed), Andy Dalton (2-year, $10 million, $8 million guaranteed), and Tyrod Taylor (2-year, $11 million, $8.2 million guaranteed). Perhaps the most comparable backup quarterback contract—without knowing the full details of Bridgewater’s deal—is that of 49ers backup quarterback Sam Darnold, who is on a one-year, $4.5 million contract with $3.5 million guaranteed.

That’s obviously a pretty reasonable deal for a backup as well respected as Bridgewater. While he struggled last season as the backup for the Miami Dolphins—posting a 85.6 passer rating and 0-2 record in two starts—Bridgewater has mainly been a reliable backup since parting ways with the Vikings in 2018.

Lions coach Dan Campbell, who worked alongside Bridgewater for two years in New Orleans, spoke earlier this week about how the veteran quarterback is not only a heck of a football player and hard worker, but he could improve Detroit’s young receiver room, too.

“That was something he did really good for us (in New Orleans),” Campbell said. “He would come in day before the game, and he would take those young receivers out, go through the whole game plan, tell them what they’re looking for, here is the coverage, here is what I’m thinking. ‘How are you running this? No, I do not like that.’ He ran the scout teams, he was competitive, running cards. It was just awesome man. He’s that type of guy, an unbelievable teammate.”

The Lions are not expected to put Bridgewater on the field until next week. When the move becomes official, they’ll also have to make a corresponding move on the roster.