The Minnesota Vikings will open the 2017 season with quarterback Sam Bradford as the starter. Meanwhile, Teddy Bridgewater, the Vikings first-round pick from 2012, is still rehabbing from a dislocated knee and multiple torn ligaments from last August.
Neither quarterback is under contract for the 2018 season. General manager Rick Spielman views this as a potentially huge problem that he’d love to tackle.
“I hope, at the end of the season, that we have that difficult decision to make because it’s better to have two high-quality players at that position than to have none at all, Spielman said per Neil Reynolds of Gridiron.”
Clearly, Spielman would prefer to retain Bradford and see Bridgewater gain clearance to play. That would be the best-case scenario. For now, no contract extension for Bradford has been discussed, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN. And it’s clear that two healthy, very good quarterbacks would be quite expensive to keep, which is the crux of Spielman’s potential problem.
Not surprisingly, the Vikings declined to pick up Bridgewater’s fifth-year option. Bridgewater is doing what he can to get healthy and is practicing. But it is yet to be determined if he will ever be completely healthy to officially suit up and play professionally again.
Yet, Spielman has not given up hope on Bridgewater.
“Teddy has been amazing as well. He has attacked his rehab and he appreciates football even more because it was taken away from him. That was an injury where people thought he may never play football again. His mindset has been unbelievable and he is showing determination to get back on the field as soon as he can.”
Spielman had nothing but high regard for Bradford as well.
“Watching him throughout the offseason in OTAs, minicamp and now training camp — Sam has been phenomenal and we’re expecting a big year out of him.”
The ideal scenario would be to see Bradford shine once again in 2017 and Bridgewater get medically cleared to play. That would give Spielman his wish once 2018 approaches.