Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell obviously wanted to make sure starting quarterback Jared Goff had an experienced backup heading into the 2026 NFL season. Consider Campbell’s job done as the Lions add a well-traveled quarterback back to the team.
Lions Reach Agreement With Free Agent QB Teddy Bridgewater
On Tuesday, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport posted on X that the Lions have reached an agreement with free agent quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who played last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Rapoport wrote, “He’s back: Teddy Bridgewater is headed back to the #Lions, per The Insiders.”
He’s back: Teddy Bridgewater is headed back to the #Lions, per The Insiders. pic.twitter.com/ICIb8r5WiM
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2026
Bridgewater played as a backup quarterback with the Lions in the 2023 and 2024 NFL seasons. Besides Detroit and Tampa Bay, Bridgewater has played for the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, and Miami Dolphins.
He’s played in 83 career NFL games, out of which 65 were starts, and has a 33-32-0 win-loss record. Bridgewater has 15,182 career passing yards and 75 career touchdown passes. Bridgewater earned his lone Pro Bowl selection back in the 2015 NFL season with the Vikings.
Bridgewater didn’t have enough data to rank along with the other quarterbacks on PFSN’s NFL QB Impact Metric last season. Bridgewater played behind Buccaneers starting quarterback Baker Mayfield, who had an impact score of 73.6 and graded out to a C.
Last season, Bridgewater appeared in four games for the Buccaneers. He was 8-of-15 passing for 62 yards and 0 touchdowns. He had a 53.3% completion percentage for Tampa Bay. Back in 2015, for the Vikings, Bridgewater started 16 games and led Minnesota to an 11-5 season record. He threw for 3,231 yards and had 14 touchdown passes for the Vikings.
In 2020 with the Panthers, Bridgewater appeared in 15 games, all starts, and finished with a 4-11 record. He threw for 3,733 yards with 15 touchdown passes but also threw 11 interceptions. Then, in 2021 with the Broncos, Bridgewater started 14 games and finished 7-7.
For the Broncos that season, Bridgewater had a 66.9% pass completion percentage, 3,052 passing yards, 18 touchdown passes, and 7 interceptions. Then, over the next four seasons with the Dolphins, Lions, and Buccaneers, Bridgewater appeared in only 10 games, two of which were starts with the Dolphins.
So, Campbell brings back a veteran quarterback to the Lions, one who has played enough in the NFL to come in for Goff if Bridgewater is needed.
Editor’s Note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.
