Sam Bradford Puts Teddy Bridgewater On the Trade Block

For a moment in time it looked like the Minnesota Vikings might have a quarterback controversy developing on their roster.

Sam Bradford finished 2016 strong, completing over 70% of his passes. This was made interesting by the accelerated return of Teddy Bridgewater from his catastrophic knee injury last year. Rumors persist he’s regaining his old form in practice. It remained to be seen whether Bradford might open the door for him to get the starting job back. On Monday night against the Saints, it feels like that door shut.

Granted New Orleans isn’t exactly the greatest measuring stick given their history of putrid defensive play. Nonetheless Bradford has picked up right where he left off. Barring a huge meltdown in the coming weeks, it looks like that job belongs to him. Permanently. Thus the Vikings are faced with a curious decision. What do they do about Bridgewater?

He is now in the final year of his rookie contract. The knee injury prevented them from exercising his 5th year option so they could control him for anther. This put Minnesota in a tricky spot. Do they try to hang onto him with the franchise tag? Do they let him walk as a free agent or do they try to trade him? That last part sounds like something Rick Spielman would definitely try to explore.

Bridgewater is still young and there’s no reason to think he can’t be effective provided that knee is close to 100%. One would think there’s a team in the league that would be willing to chance it, provided the price is reasonable. Given how desperate teams are for quarterbacks these days, there’s no reason to think the Vikings can’t get a decent pick back for him prior to the trade deadline this November.

Keep it in mind, especially if Bradford continues to play well.