How Teddy Bridgewater blew his chance with the Carolina Panthers
By Dean Jones
Teddy Bridgewater blew his chance of another prominent starting position with the Carolina Panthers, and the quarterback only has himself to blame.
The Carolina Panthers mercifully put Teddy Bridgewater out of his misery just one day before the 2021 NFL Draft. His time with the organization was cut short after just one season after the team traded him to the Denver Broncos for a sixth-round pick, which is what the organization gave up when they acquired Sam Darnold from the New York Jets.
Such was the Panthers’ desire to remove Bridgewater from the equation, they are taking on a significant portion of his 2021 salary just to get him off the roster. This is not the way anybody wanted things to end up with the former first-round selection in Carolina, but once Darnold had been secured, this was an inevitable outcome.
Bridgewater only has himself to blame. One could argue his pass protection wasn’t the greatest and running back Christian McCaffrey was only available for three games due to various ailments. But the simple fact of the matter is he didn’t get the job done when it mattered most.
The Panthers couldn’t possibly trust Bridgewater in critical moments judging by what they saw from the player last season. He went 0-8 on game-winning or tying drives during as Carolina finished with a 5-11 record once again.
Had he even come through in half those contests, it could have seen the team reach a surprise playoff place in an under-strength NFC in the first year of Matt Rhule’s reign.
This almost forced the team’s hand to look for better alternatives this offseason. Failed trades for Matthew Stafford and Deshaun Watson were well documented. So it came as no surprise when they gave up three draft selections over the next two years to bring Darnold on board.