Dang.
The question this morning: did the Bears shoot their shot at Teddy Bridgewater early, knowing how Tom Brady might disrupt things, and miss? Was yesterday their biggest swing, and now they are totally moving on? Mike Florio didn’t seem to think so, but with Brady moving on from New England and now Cam Newton moving out from Carolina, there were suddenly two more suitors in the mix today that weren’t there yesterday.
And one of them was apparently immediately aggressive.
Both the Patriots and Panthers were rumored to be in on Bridgewater this morning, and it now sounds like the Panthers are going to get him:
The Panthers and Teddy Bridgewater are negotiating a 3-year contract in the $60 million range, per source. The deal is not done as they work out details but it is expected to be complete when new league year opens Wednesday.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 17, 2020
The #Panthers are finalizing a deal with QB Teddy Bridgewater to be their starting QB, sources say. New OC Joe Brady gets a new QB in Teddy B. There is a basic agreement.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2020
Joe Brady is seen as a stud, so maybe Bridgewater was just too excited to get a shot to work with him. Or maybe the Panthers simply ponied up to a level the Bears and other clubs weren’t going to reach. Eff.
Either way, we now know why the Panthers gave Newton the boot this morning.