4 reasons to panic about Carolina Panthers quarterback situation

Carolina Panthers made their bed with Teddy Bridgewater

The Carolina Panthers would not be in the predicament they’re in had the team decided to give Cam Newton one more chance on the final year of his deal. A new regime was obviously going to come in with their own set of ideas, which is fine. But the contract given to Teddy Bridgewater was a head-scratcher at the time and looks even worse now.

Despite not playing a full campaign since 2015 before his freak training ground injury with the Minnesota Vikings, Bridgewater got $33 million guaranteed over three years after going 5-0 in Drew Brees’ absence with the New Orleans Saints in 2019. There is no real out on his contract until 2022 and it’s now highly unlikely another team takes this sort of contract on-board for a veteran who isn’t going to get better anytime soon.

Of all the bad contracts given out by Marty Hurney over his two spells as general manager, this is right up there. Considering Bridgewater’s links to Joe Brady and the possibility of being a starter once again, there is every likelihood he’d have signed a one-year, prove-it deal rather than spend another season holding a clipboard somewhere else.

Bridgewater must have thought all his Christmases came at once when his agent brought this sort of financial commitment to the table. The Panthers made their bed and now they have to lie in it, which is one of the main reasons why Hurney is no longer around.