Head coach Vic Fangio has named Teddy Bridgewater as the Broncos’ starting quarterback. That leaves incumbent starter Drew Lock as the team’s QB2, raising long-term questions about his future in Denver.
The Broncos have started 10 players at quarterback since Peyton Manning‘s March 2016 retirement. They’ve tried all possible avenues: free agency (Case Keenum, the second Brock Osweiler acquisition), the trade market (Joe Flacco, Bridgewater) and the draft (Lock, Paxton Lynch). After all of that, they’ve done no better than 9-7 since Manning left.
Now they’ll hand things over to Bridgewater. His three-year, $63M deal didn’t pan out for the Panthers, but the Broncos have him at a much more reasonable rate. Bridgewater’s 2021 cap hit will be just $4.4M. After that, he’ll be a free agent.
Bridgewater finished 17th in QBR last season while Lock ranked 29th. The 2019 second-rounder tied for the NFL lead in INTs (15) despite missing three games. In his defense, he was thrust into an unusual spot in 2020 — learning a brand new offense in a virtual offseason. He was also without top receiver Courtland Sutton for most of the year.
Bridgewater, meanwhile, will aim for better results. He’s got a lot working in his favor, including familiarity with Pat Shurmur‘s offense.
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