At a time when there aren’t enough quarterbacks to go around, one former starting quarterback is going away.
Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Bridgewater will retire after the 2023 season. He plans to coach high school football.
He just turned 31 last month. He’s got plenty of football left in him, if he chooses to keep playing. And, like any other retirement, this one won’t be final and binding.
A first-round pick in 2014 by the Vikings, Bridgewater’s career was derailed by a non-contact ACL tear in a late August practice just before the 2016 season. After 2017, he signed with the Jets. He then was traded to the Saints before the start of the 2018 season.
He spent two years with the Saints, one with the Panthers (as the Week 1 starter), one with the Broncos (as the Week 1 starter), one with the Dolphins (as the primary backup), and one in Detroit.
Through 10 seasons, he has 65 career starts. His record is 33-32.
Two of Bridgewater’s final three regular-season games will come against the team that drafted him nearly a decade ago. Under the current NFC playoff tree, the Lions would also host the Vikings in the NFC wild-card round.