Looking ahead to 2017, the Minnesota Vikings may not view Teddy Bridgewater as the starter. But the team is likely to keep him around.
“Bridgewater is under contract at $2.18 million for the 2017 season, and the Vikings will have to make a decision on his fifth-year option in May,” Ben Goessling of ESPN said. “It seems likely they will exercise the option, even though it will check in north of $11 million, because it gives them another year to evaluate the 24-year-old’s recovery.”
In the same report, Gosseling also said that Sam Bradford will be the starter entering 2017.
As uninspiring as Bradford may be, the Vikings need to have multiple options. Bridgewater suffered a gruesome injury, the details of which can be read about here. He had certainly played well in his first two NFL seasons, but didn’t do anything to indicate for sure that he’s a franchise quarterback.
Minnesota will definitely need time to monitor Bridgewater’s progress.
It’s certainly possible that he’ll recover strong and beat Bradford out for the starting job. Bridgewater showed enough in 2014 and 2015 to indicate that he’s worth taking a chance on. But the Vikings need to have a solid Plan B and Plan C in place.