New Orleans Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater agreed to a one-year contract extension early in free agency, but details recently reported by Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune prove his deal with the Saints is more than it seems.
Per Katzenstein’s report, Bridgewater’s contract features guarantees of $7.25 million, which consists of a $1.25 million base salary and a $6 million signing bonus. However, the Saints plugged two voided years into Bridgewater’s deal to spread that $6 million out evenly between 2019, 2020, and 2021.
What this means is that Bridgewater’s salary cap hit for 2019 is just $3.25 million. Right now, he’ll be on the books for $2 million in each of the next two years, even if he never plays another down. Obviously the Saints would probably like to keep Bridgewater in town long-term, and this contract does a bit towards making that happen. It’s a show of good faith between both sides that happens to add $2 million on top of whatever new salary cap hits his next deal creates.
With contracts for Bridgewater and Drew Brees both set to expire and Taysom Hill on pace to become a restricted free agent, the Saints won’t have much time to figure out their quarterback situation in the 2020 offseason. The good news is that they have a year to go win a Super Bowl before it’s time to grapple with that reality.
