Teddy Bridgewater is heading back to Detroit.
The veteran quarterback will come out of retirement and is expected to sign with the Detroit Lions, NFL Media reported Thursday. Bridgewater, 32, played for the Lions in 2023, serving as the backup to Jared Goff.
Bridgewater retired after his first stint with the Lions, opting to become a coach at his alma mater, Miami Northwestern High, for the 2024 season. After helping the school win the Florida Class 3A state title, Bridgewater expressed his desire to join a team for the season’s homestretch.
“Coach Teddy, hopefully, we’ll see how these next week and a half, two weeks play out, might be signing with a team or something,” Bridgewater told NFL Media on Dec. 17. “And then returning back to coach high school football in February. So, we’ll see.
“That’s the plan,” the former quarterback added when asked if he was serious about a potential comeback. “My team knows that’s the plan. We wanted to win a state championship and then Coach goes back to the league, see what happens, and then come back February in the offseason, continue coaching high school football. So we’ll see how it plays out.”
The Lions don’t necessarily need a quarterback entering the final weeks of the regular season. Goff is healthy and has been one of the game’s best passers this season. However, if something were to happen to Goff, Hendon Hooker would’ve been next up. The second-year quarterback, who the Lions took in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, has only recorded snaps in garbage time over his young NFL career.
Bridgewater, meanwhile, will provide Detroit with an established option if something were to happen to Goff. The 10-year vet has also had stops with the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins. He’s gone 33-32 as a starter in his career, but he hasn’t started a game since his stint with the Dolphins in 2022. He went 0-2 as a starter that year, throwing for 683 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions over five games.
The Lions are 13-2 this season and can clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a win over the San Francisco 49ers and a Vikings loss over the weekend.
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