Clayton: The Broncos got a bargain in the Teddy Bridgewater trade
Apr 29, 2021, 2:15 PM
For only a sixth-round pick and a one-year deal at $4.7 million, the Broncos got a bargain. That’s the reality of the Teddy Bridgewater trade.
Denver wanted a quarterback to challenge Drew Lock. Based on performance, Bridgewater has a decent chance to beat out Lock for the starting job in 2021. Regardless what happens, this will be one of the most interesting quarterback battles in training camp.
Lock went 4-1 as a rookie after being taken in the second round in 2019. Last year, he regressed.
In 2020, Lock tied for the league lead with 15 interceptions. He went 4-9 as a starter. His completion percentage dropped to 57.3. His yards per attempt was 6.6. If a quarterback has a yards per attempt close to 6.4, it’s not good.
As Pro Football Focus indicated last week, the Broncos have the sixth-best roster in the NFL. But last year, Lock was about the fifth-worst starter in the NFL, according to PFF. If Lock wins the job and performs at the same level in 2021, the Broncos probably won’t do better than 8-9 or 9-8, and they might be worse.
Though Bridgewater was 4-11 last year on a bad Carolina Panthers team, his numbers are better than Lock’s. His career completion percentage is 66.5. His yards per attempt is so much better at 7.3. He’s 26-23 as a starter. He hasn’t had a season in which he threw more than 12 interceptions.
Even on a bad Panthers team, Bridgewater’s numbers were good. He completed 69.1 percent of his passes. He threw 15 touchdown passes and threw for 3,733 yards in 15 games. Had he had played 16 games, he would have thrown for more than 4,000 yards.
The numbers suggest that Bridgewater has the edge over Lock. It’s an open completion in Denver and it figures to be an interesting one.
