Detroit Lions Sign QB Teddy Bridgewater To Backup Jared Goff in 2026

The free agency tampering period has begun for the NFL, and the Detroit Lions are among the active teams acquiring players as they try to get back to the playoffs after they did not meet their own standard for last season.

On Monday, it was revealed that 2025 Lions backup quarterback Kyle Allen was heading to Buffalo, leaving another hole in the roster to fill. Nearly 24 hours later, that hole has been filled, as veteran quarterbackTeddy Bridgewater is heading back to Motown.

Bridgewater spent the 2023 season with Detroit, in what initially was going to be his final season in the league.

However, after coaching Miami Northwestern Senior High School to a state championship in Florida during the 2024 season, he announced he was planning to unretire, and Detroit picked him up for their push towards the top seed in the NFC.

Bridgewater then resigned as head coach at Miami Northwestern and signed with Tampa Bay to backup Baker Mayfield last season.

He appeared in four games last season, throwing 15 passes for the Buccaneers, which were his first NFL pass attempts since 2022.

Bridgewater is a safe option at backup quarterback in Detroit, as the former Rookie of the Year has had a steady career since entering the league with Minnesota out of Louisville in 2014.

Bridgewater returns to back up Jared Goff under new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, as this is a situation where Detroit stuck with a player they knew.  For Petzing, this is not the first time coaching Teddy Bridgewater, as he was an offensive assistant with Minnesota when they drafted Bridgewater in 2014.

A leg injury derailed his career after a Pro Bowl season in 2015, but he has started 37 games since the injury as a journeyman. Bridgewater left Minnesota and Drew Petzing and would overlap with Dan Campbell when the quarterback played for New Orleans in 2018 and 2019. In addition to Minnesota, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and Detroit, Bridgewater has also played for Carolina, Denver, and Miami.

Detroit stuck with a safe and familiar option in Bridgewater, as a majority of their offense, alongside most of their offensive staff, have worked with the quarterback before. If Bridgewater is turned to in any situation, there will be full confidence in the Louisville product to make the right play.

NFL Draft Implications

This puts Detroit in a unique position when looking ahead towards the NFL Draft, as a popular mock draft pick for Detroit was taking a quarterback, with Cole Payton, Luke Altmyer, and Taylen Green all being among the names mentioned.

Bridgewater is an excellent mentor alongside Goff, but having three quarterbacks on the Lions roster after injury-riddled campaigns in the last two seasons may not be the wisest allocation of a roster spot.

For the time being, Detroit has their backup quarterback for the season, and there is not a better option than Bridgewater when it comes to familiarity and adaptability. While the former Pro Bowl quarterback has yet to throw a pass in Detroit, he has the familiairity and trust of the coaching staff to be a backup entering a pivotal year.