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New York Giants: Teddy Bridgewater their best hope to avoid rebuild

By Erik Lambert

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 28: Andrew Sendejo #34 of the Minnesota Vikings greets former teammate Teddy Bridgewater #5 of the New Orleans Saints after the game at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Saints defeated the Vikings 30-20. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 28: Andrew Sendejo #34 of the Minnesota Vikings greets former teammate Teddy Bridgewater #5 of the New Orleans Saints after the game at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Saints defeated the Vikings 30-20. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /
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The New York Giants tried to rebuild their roster on the fly in hopes that they could squeeze one or two more good years out of Eli Manning.

They hired an offensive expert in Pat Shurmur as their head coach. Saquon Barkley and Will Hernandez were the first two picks in the draft. Odell Beckham was coming back healthy. Everything was lined up for Manning to regain some of that old form that made him the greatest Giants quarterback of all-time. Sadly, it just hasn’t happened.

Some quarterbacks just don’t keep their form into old ages. Guys like Drew Brees and Tom Brady are rare exceptions. Manning, for whatever reason, has lost his edge. His poise and confidence under pressure aren’t there anymore. Maybe it left after Tom Coughlin was fired or maybe it’s something else. Either way, it feels unlikely that the team will have him as the starting quarterback beyond 2018.

Therein lay the problem. New York has no heir to the throne on their roster. This means they’ll likely have to find one in the draft next year with the high pick they’re sure to have. The problem is GM Dave Gettleman is allergic to taking QBs high and the general consensus is that the 2019 class is particularly weak. That doesn’t leave many options, save for one.

Giants’ only lifeline away from rebuild may be Teddy Bridgewater

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Free agency doesn’t typically offer solutions to a quarterback problem these days, but things have been different lately. Kirk Cousins became available this past offseason and now he’s riding high in Minnesota. Now all eyes are turning to Teddy Bridgewater. The former Pro Bowler has travelled a long road back to relevance after suffering a  near ending to his career thanks to a catastrophic knee injury in 2016. He signed with the New York Jets back in spring and performed well above expectations in the preseason.

That was enough for the New Orleans Saints who sent a 3rd round pick to the Jets in exchange for him. Now he’s the backup to Drew Brees on what could be the best team in football. The problem is that might not last. Bridgewater is a free agent in 2019. The Saints may have a hard time keeping him unless Brees decides to retire. That makes him the biggest QB name by far set to hit the open market.

Bridgewater is 26-years old with a proven track record on and off the field. He’s already familiar with New York in his brief time with the Jets. If any move was to make sense for the Giants, it would be this one. He could step right in and excel, allowing Gettleman to build the roster around him and make the Giants competitive far sooner.

The tricky part will be money. New York will have less than $7 million in cap space next year according to overthecap.com. If they did cut Manning along with Janoris Jenkins and maybe Olivier Vernon though, they’d gain an additional $36 million. That’s more than enough to secure Bridgewater in a potential bidding war.

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