The Jets didn't win the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes, but they still landed two quarterbacks in free agency on Tuesday. Shortly after giving Josh McCown a one-year, $10 million to return to New York, the Jets agreed to sign ex-Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to a one-year deal, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Dianna Russini.
The New York Jets have reached an agreement to sign QB Teddy Bridgewater sources tell me and @mortreport. It’s a one year deal.
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) March 14, 2018
Bridgewater will make around $5 million in base salary on the deal, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora:
I'm told the base money on the Bridgewater contract with the Jets is around $5M
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 14, 2018
NFL.com reports Bridgewater can make up to $15 million on the one-year deal.
With Bridgewater signing, the best-remaining bridge quarterback in free agency is AJ McCarron and the one team in desperate need of a starting quarterback is Buffalo. We'll see which side blinks first.
The Jets are out of the running for a bridge quarterback, but they might not be done rearranging their quarterback room. They still hold the No. 6 pick in the draft and could very well use it on a quarterback to sit behind McCown and Bridgewater. Both players are on one-year deals, so they still haven't found their long-term solution at quarterback. McCown is likely viewed as a mentor-type of quarterback, while Bridgewater is almost a complete unknown at this point in his career.
Although, the drafting of a quarterback would raise an important question: Why the heck did the Jets pay McCown $10 million?
I know the Jets are used to their top drafted QB warranting zero reps in practice, but how does a first rounder get development time with BOTH McCown and Bridgewater in the mix unless...
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) March 14, 2018
1) McCown or Bridgewater won’t be there Week 1 or
2) The Jets won’t draft a QB?
For Bridgewater, this is an opportunity for him to compete for the starting job, win it, and demonstrate to the rest of the NFL that he's ready to resume his once-promising career that was derailed by a career-threatening knee injury on the eve of the 2016 season. Bridgewater finally made his return to the field late last season, but he was unable to carve out much of a role for himself with Case Keenum entrenched as the starter and Sam Bradford being given backup duties down the stretch. Funnily enough, all three ex-Vikings quarterbacks are elsewhere now, with Keenum landing in Denver, Bradford agreeing to sign with Arizona, and Bridgewater en route to New York. The Vikings don't mind, of course, seeing as they won the Cousins sweepstakes.
It's been a busy day for the Jets. After dealing with the Cousins's rejection, they brought back McCown for another season, signed running back Isaiah Crowell to a three-year deal, and then gave star cornerback Trumaine Johnson a monster contract -- all before agreeing to sign Bridgewater.
And here's a reminder that free agency doesn't officially begin until Wednesday.