Former Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is returning to the NFL, signing a deal with the Detroit Lions just days after he led a high school football team in Miami to a state championship.
Bridgewater, 32, returns to the NFL after retiring this past offseason. In his retirement, Bridgewater coached his high school alma mater, Miami Northwestern, to its first Florida state championship win since 2019, doing so in his first year as a head coach.
The former Vikings first-round pick told NFL Network recently that it was “the plan” to return to an NFL locker room this month.
“My team knows that’s the plan. We wanted to win a state championship and then coach goes back to the league, see what happens, and then come back February in the offseason, continue coaching high school football. We’ll see how it plays out,” Bridgewater said on Tuesday’s The Insiders.
#Lions HC Dan Campbell says the re-signing of Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t mean that Hendon Hooker is out. He brings “a certain level of comfort to us,” Campbell said. He also brings a level of professionalism and “it’s great for our team.” pic.twitter.com/dHNuqafN43
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) December 26, 2024
Bridgewater spent the 2023 season as the Lions backup. He also spent time with the Dolphins, Broncos and Panthers after two seasons with the Saints. Minnesota selected Bridgewater with the No. 32 pick in the 2014 NFL draft. He threw for 6,150 yards, 28 touchdowns and 21 interceptions while leading the Vikings to a 17-11 record in his first two seasons.
During the 2016 preseason, Bridgewater suffered a terrifying knee injury that nearly ended his career. He recently revealed details about what happened when he suffered the injury, saying he thinks he tore his ACL during a preseason game against the Chargers at U.S. Bank Stadium, just days before suffering a catastrophic knee injury during practice.
Minnesota and Detroit are locked in a race for the NFC North as well as the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Depending on the results of Week 17, the Vikings and Lions could be meeting in Detroit in Week 18 with the division and No. 1 seed on the line.