The Denver Broncos are acquiring quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in an trade with the Carolina Panthers, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero announced. Denver is sending a 6th round pick (No. 191) to Carolina, per Pelissero. The groups later declared the swap.
Carolina is paying $7 million of Bridgewater’s $10 million in guaranteed cash for 2021, NFL Network’s Michael Silver detailed, which means the Broncos are acquiring an legitimate option under center for simply a late-round pick and $3 million this season.
Bridgewater isn’t merely a reliable backup option, at any rate not yet. The quarterback is made a beeline for the Broncos to go after the beginning position, NFL Network’s James Palmer revealed.
The exchange comes barely 24 hours before the beginning of the 2021 NFL Draft, a backup option where the Broncos were viewed as a potentially strong candidate to pick a quarterback in the first round. The deal for Bridgewater doesn’t block Denver from taking a quarterback Thursday night in Cleveland, per Palmer, yet it gives the Broncos a choice other than third-year signal-caller Drew Lock.
“Acquiring Teddy Bridgewater adds competition, experience and a strong veteran presence to our quarterback room,” general manager George Paton said in a statement released by the Broncos.
Paton has complimented Lock’s willingness to deal with his art in the short time they’ve been part for a similar organization, however he’s avoided making such a reckless revelation about the previous Missouri star. Paton has likewise said on different events that he’d be on the lookout for an extra quarterback this offseason – without any particulars on whether that may come through free office, exchange or the draft – to make rivalry with the expectations of discovering a solution to Denver’s quarterback question.
It’s not yet settled, yet Paton has at any rate finished the first portion of his goal with this deal. Bridgewater comes to Denver in the wake of posting the highest completion percentage of his career in his solitary season with the Panthers in 2020, where he got done with a passer rating of 92.1 however didn’t set up himself as a drawn out answer for Carolina.
Prior this offseason, Carolina acquired former No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold, basically putting a ticking check on Bridgewater’s future in Charlotte. That watch has now lapsed with the arrangement, which nets the Panthers a late-round pick, liberates them of any waiting quarterback controversy and gives the Broncos various options for 2021. A third could in any case come Thursday night.