Eagles Should Bring in Former $63 Million Pro Bowler as Backup QB

Getty

Detroit Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

The most concerning thing that came out of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ 36-33 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 16 wasn’t the loss itself, which ended Philadelphia’s 10-game winning streak.

The most concerning thing that came out of the game was the rash of injuries at the most important position on the field, with quarterback Jalen Hurts leaving the game in the first quarter and now in concussion protocol and backup quarterback Kenny Pickett undergoing x-rays for a rib injury following the game.

With a 12-3 game and 2 games remaining, the most important thing for the Eagles down the stretch might not be securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs but getting Hurts and Pickett healthy for a possible Super Bowl run. That would also mean turning to third string quarterback Tanner McKee, who is in his second season and yet to play in an NFL game.

“Tanner has done a good job in scout team and developmental periods,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told The Athletic’s RJ Kraft and Brooks Kubena on December 23. “Tanner gives us a lot of confidence. Kenny gives us a lot of confidence and that is a tribute to (general manager) Howie (Roseman) and his staff and all the pieces he has given us to work with and the depth that he has given us to work with.”

While Sirianni might be confident in McKee, he might be the only one. The Eagles should make a move to bring veteran free agent quarterback Teddy Bridgewater with two winnable home games remaining in the regular season against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 and New York Giants in Week 18.

Bridgewater, who made his lone Pro Bowl with the Minnesota Vikings in 2015, has expressed his desire to return to the NFL after spending 2024 as the head coach at his alma mater, Miami Northwestern High School, where they won the Class 3A state championship with a 41-0 win over Raines High on December 14.

Bridgewater spent 2023 as a backup for the Detroit Lions before announcing his retirement in February 2024.

“We wanted to win a state championship, and then Coach goes back to the league, see what happens, and then come back in February and continue coaching high school football,” Bridgewater told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on December 17.

McKee Sixth Round Pick in 2023 NFL Draft

The Eagles selected McKee, 6-foot-6 and 231 pounds, in the sixth round (No. 188 overall) in the 2023 NFL draft out of Stanford, where he went 6-16 as the starter over the 2021 and 2022 seasons with 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

He also displayed little of the mobility that would benefit the Eagles offense and Hurts and Pickett both possess — McKee finished his college career with negative-86 rushing yards.

Bridgewater Has Been Consistent Backup QB

Bridgewater was a first round pick (No. 32 overall) out of Louisville by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 NFL draft and one of the NFL’s elite young quarterbacks through his first 2 seasons. He missed all of 2016 and all but 1 game in 2017 with a knee injury before he was released by the Vikings. He was a backup for the New York Jets in 2018 and for the New Orleans Saints in 2019, where he went 5-0 filling in for injured starter Drew Brees.

That season propelled Bridgewater to the biggest payday of his career — a 3-year, $63 million free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers in March 2020.

Bridgewater lasted 1 season as the starter for the Panthers before they traded him to the Denver Broncos, where he went 7-7 as the starter in 2021 before spending 1 season each as a backup for the Miami Dolphins and Lions in 2023.