Dodging The Bullet
April 6th, 2021
Bucs got lucky.
Now that the Stinking Panthers have a new quarterback in Jets castoff Sa Darnold, let’s take a look back just a little over a year ago and thank the big guy upstairs for the Bucs not getting caught up in the hype.
A little over a year ago, Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians decided he’d like to sample quarterbacks other than Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston. Tom Brady was Arians’ object of affection, but at the time Arians wasn’t sure if Brady would react to Arians’ advances.
The second quarterback Arians wanted if he was going to turn the page on Jameis? That would be Teddy Bridgewater, soon to be ex-Stinking Panthers quarterback.
Fortunately for the Bucs, Brady did accept Arians’ advances. Whew.
Otherwise, it is a very real possibility the Bucs would have heavily invested in a quarterback that now two NFC South teams have washed their hands of in as many years. You don’t see good quarterbacks getting passed around like that. Mike Glennon-types? Maybe.
This was a massive bullet dodged by Arians and Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht. Joe doesn’t think it is offbase to suggest the Bucs would not currently be defending Super Bowl champions if they had signed Bridgewater.
Brady single-handedly turned around the entire Bucs franchise. Would Jason Pierre-Paul or Ndamukong Suh have returned if Bridgewater was quarterback instead of Brady? Unlikely.
Would Bridgewater have had the same impact on both the franchise and the team as Brady? Highly unlikely.
Since 2016, 5 of the 7 biggest QB contracts in free agency have been given to Teddy Bridgewater, Nick Foles, Case Keenum, Mike Glennon, and Brock Osweiler.
In total, they got more than $160 million guaranteed.
None of them made it past Year 1 of those deals.
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) April 6, 2021
April 6th, 2021 at 1:06 am
Hahahaha. No.
April 6th, 2021 at 2:46 am
I suspect Arians and Lucy wouldn’t be here anymore if we went with Teddy
April 6th, 2021 at 3:33 am
@Joe … “Joe doesn’t think it is offbase to suggest the Bucs would not currently be defending Super Bowl champions.”
There seems to be a definite implication in a number of your recent articles Joe that Tom Brady is the only reason we won the Super Bowl. Without him, not only wouldn’t the Bucs have looked like they did (no Suh, no JPP, no Gronk, no AB, no Fournette?) but they very likely wouldn’t have performed like they did (missing all that talent PLUS Tom Brady is a LOT of talent to be missing?).
I don’t disagree at all with that implication on the offensive side, but I think it short-changes the role that Todd Bowles played on the defensive side. Suh & Shaq & several others are Bucs IMO because of Todd Bowles being our DC. We were already seeing a substantial improvement in our defense in the second half of the 2019 season and, despite COVID, that defense improved substantially in 2020 and came up biggest of all in the most important games.
Now, off to the dungeon … yet again.
April 6th, 2021 at 6:00 am
Saints washed their hands of bridgewater?
He went 5-0 as starter when brees injured and that was reason he was sought after free agent.
And remember hall of fame qb drew brees was coming back for another year so its not like saints could pay bridgewater bigger bucks along with brees salary
I hope jameis does get a
Chance honestly in NO . Even if only a few games
Bridgewater gets trashed here . Fitz obviously called a loser
What happens if jameis goes 3-3 or 4-2 during his starts or something in that area? Cause even a gadget qb in taysome hill went 3-1 last year.
I bet he will still be americas qb , probowler , mr entertainment
April 6th, 2021 at 6:13 am
Bridgewater may play well for another team, but the Panthers just folded in more ways than a transformer before he got there. Plus, they have absolutely nobody except #22 on offense. Please don’t tell me Robby Anderson keeps DBs up at night in cold sweats.
April 6th, 2021 at 6:51 am
If the Panthers release him, look for the Bucs to go after Teddy as a back-up.
April 6th, 2021 at 7:08 am
Remember, Arians said the Bucs could win with any QB who didn’t just give the ball away. TB12 was the pinnacle, but Bridgewater has won in this league. With the Bucs weapons, they still would have Ben a better team.
April 6th, 2021 at 7:10 am
you have to look to the fact that he had no McCaffrey which was big. I think with less pressure on him to carry the team he is better. Panthers want to trade him because the know if they cut him, he is coming to Tampa for the min and they are stuck paying him 9 million to be TB back up.
April 6th, 2021 at 7:21 am
Maybe after Brady retires Deshaun Watson will be out of jail and Licht can trade for him. They could reconstruct his contract and give him half ownership of Mons Venus!
April 6th, 2021 at 8:08 am
Bridgewater’s biggest weakness is his tendency to take the checkdown. Look at the air yards per attempt stat of his for every year he has started, from Minny, to NO to CAR, he is at the near bottom in air yards per attempt. Hard to have a productive offense with such a QB. Would rather have Jameis.
April 6th, 2021 at 8:14 am
Bridgewater’s stock rose before last season because he did real well when filling in for Drew Brees. So if he’s on a team with a good roster and coaching that knows how to use him, he can perform well.
April 6th, 2021 at 8:19 am
That tweet is wild. I would love to see how much stock Joe thinks GM’s should put into a stat like that. Is it deceiving, or is there a legitimate red siren there??
I know this isn’t an NFL blog, but still curious of what Joe thinks.
April 6th, 2021 at 8:32 am
Watching Check Down Teddy try to run BA’s offense would have special for sure. In those starts with the Saints he never threw beyond 10 yards down field.
April 6th, 2021 at 9:57 am
Also I bet Donovan would have opted out if Brady wasn’t here.
April 6th, 2021 at 10:49 am
Bridgewater never seemed like a starter let alone a franchise QB to me. Maybe the best backup QB a team could have though.
April 6th, 2021 at 12:23 pm
Bridgewater is Tyrod Taylor 2.0. I would rather have them at QB than the starters that some teams will roll out, but there is nothing remarkable out of their games. Good pros, decent leaders, game managers. Surround them with talent, and they will hold serve, but will never win the games they arent expected to. Just not enough time or patience given to players at that position. Its not pretty, but game managers with a hot defense also win championships.
April 6th, 2021 at 1:44 pm
Never ever brought the dump down teddy show!