Getty The Detroit Lions are being encouraged to shop quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the New York Jets.
Teddy Bridgewater spent his final season in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, providing some veteran depth before leaving the league to take a high school coaching job.
But the NFL may still be calling Bridgewater, who said this week that he’s ready to make a comeback. The 32-year-old took to social media to declare his intentions, saying he’s ready to consider open positions once his high school season wraps up.
“So many QB jobs available for me after we make this state title run. I can’t wait to return back to the NFL,” Bridgewater said in a post on X.
Teddy Bridgewater Ready to Return
Bridgewater didn’t see any action for the Lions in his final NFL season in 2023, staying behind veteran Jared Goff and providing some guidance to rookie Hendon Hooker as he finished rehab for a torn ACL.
Bridgewater’s last season as a full-time starter was in 2021, when he started 14 games for the Denver Broncos, completing 66.9% of his passes for 3,052 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Bridgewater spent time with six NFL teams during his nine-year NFL career, compiling 15,120 total yards with 75 touchdowns and 47 interceptions.
Veteran Returned for One More Season in Detroit
Bridgewater announced his retirement in December 2023, telling Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that he would have hung up his cleats before the season were it not for Lions head coach Dan Campbell. The two worked together on the New Orleans Saints in 2018 and 2019, when Bridgewater was a backup and Campbell was the assistant head coach and tight ends coach, and carried a connection in the years that followed.
Bridgewater said Campbell reached out with an idea to sign with Detroit to serve as a mentor for two of the team’s young players, Hooker and wide receiver Jameson Williams.
“He was like, ‘Man, I’m telling you, man, you’ll make a huge impact in Hendon and Jamo’s life just being here,” Bridgewater said.
“Dan, yeah, but I’m going to come here for those two guys as well. So I’m close to Hard Time (Alexander), but Hendon and Jamo, I tell them all the time you’re the reason I signed here.”
Bridgewater said Campbell eventually convinced him to come back for one more season.
“I was really like content with being done,” Bridgewater said. “And it wasn’t really like much that went into it, it was just I felt healthy, I could walk away on my own terms and that was that. But when Dan, like we talked, and we talked, and we talked, and we talked, and it was like, ‘Man, all right, Dan, I got you.’ ”
The mentoring was largely a success, with both Hooker and Williams showing growth on the field. USA Today’s Jeff Risdon hinted that the Lions might be open to bringing Bridgewater back in another mentoring role.
“The Lions are very happy with Hendon Hooker’s progress as the No. 2 quarterback behind MVP candidate Jared Goff,” Risdon wrote. “But if the team is looking for a veteran to mentor Hooker and hold a clipboard in 2025, perhaps Bridgewater would consider a return?”
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty
