Teddy Bridgewater missed all of last season after suffering a serious knee injury during summer practice. That forced the Minnesota Vikings to exhaust a first-round pick in a trade for Sam Bradford.
And while everything seems to be trending in the right direction when it comes to Bridgewater’s rehab, there’s still no timetable for his return to the field.
So it really shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the Vikings are reportedly likely to pass up on the fifth-year option on Bridgewater’s rookie contract.
“The Minnesota Vikings are unlikely to pick up quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s fifth-year option by the May 2 deadline,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday.
The option calls for $11 million guaranteed in 2018. It’s not unreasonable that Minnesota would be leaning against guaranteeing Bridgewater this type of cash. After all, he’s still rehabbing form the serious injury and has no timetable for return.
This means that barring something unforeseen, Minnesota will head into the 2017 season with both Bridgewater and Bradford in contract years.