Teddy Bridgewater Is Ready To Pass On His NFL Wisdom As Bucs QB

Almost a decade after a devastating knee injury nearly ended his career, Teddy Bridgewater is still finding new ways to impact the game — this time in pewter and red.

From being a first-round pick in the same draft class as Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans, Bridgewater began his career with the Vikings, where he became the starting quarterback. After suffering a gruesome leg injury in August 2016, he bounced around the league as a “bridge” signal-caller and backup, with his last stop with the Lions in 2023 and 2024 being one where he failed to throw a regular-season pass, although he did complete one pass during Detroit’s Divisional Round loss against the Commanders.

After last season, Bridgewater retired and focused on being the head coach of Miami Northwestern. Although he led them to success, his time there ended with a suspension after paying for Uber rides, meals, and more to give back to his players.

With so much in the rearview, his only focus now is giving out his knowledge and being a humble servant – and backup quarterback – in Tampa Bay.

Teddy Bridgewater Comes Full Circle With Bucs: “I’m Finally Here”

You often hear the expression of someone burning bridges as it relates to the relationships made in life. When one destroys what was built, often in a negative connotation.

Not Teddy Bridgewater.

It was all of the relationships he built throughout his life that led him to signing with the Bucs on Tuesday.

Bridgewater’s connection to Tampa Bay runs deeper than most realize. He overlapped with Lavonte David at Miami Northwestern. At Louisville, his college coach was now-defensive line coach Charlie Strong. He spent time with head coach Todd Bowles in New York and offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard in Miami. It is almost unheard that a player has this many ties to one organization, which makes it no surprise that he already considers Tampa Bay home.

“It feels good to be back out, man,” Bridgewater said after his first day practicing on Wednesday. “Flying around, enjoying this Tampa heat. Getting back acclimated to playing in Florida after coaching and being in Detroit the last two years. It feels good, though. So many familiar faces from the coaching staff to the players to the executive office and it just feels like I’m home. I told a couple of the guys it finally happened. You know, we’ve been flirting for years – the pre-draft process, then in 2020 and now in 2025 – and I’m finally here. So, I’m excited.”

Turning 33 years old in November, Bridgewater is now the third-oldest player in Bucs training camp behind David and reserve defensive lineman Adam Gotsis. Playing in 79 games and starting 65 of them at the highest level, the veteran quarterback is excited for the chance to set down the clipboard and put on the cleats once again.

“It was always the plan for me,” Bridgewater said about returning to play instead of coaching. “Even my team down in South Florida at Miami Northwestern knew that I would coach them throughout the season, and then if I had an opportunity to go back and play ball, I would go and do that. It just so happened that that opportunity came a little sooner this year. I get to do it in Florida, so I get to still keep that relationship and the bond and that chemistry that I have with those guys at Miami Northwestern and get to continue to be their coach as well.”

Teddy Bridgewater Is Excited To Learn Bucs’ Offense, Share His Knowledge

With the kids Teddy Bridgewater coached now getting the chance to watch their head coach play, he is now the one learning. Bridgewater is in the process of absorbing the Bucs’ offense, although he is not expected to play during the team’s first preseason game on Saturday night against the Titans.

Still, as Todd Bowles put it, part of the thought process behind bringing him in was for the lessons he could pass on to his new teammates. “He has a wealth of knowledge from a coaching standpoint as well as a playing standpoint,” Bowles said on Tuesday.

Bridgewater echoed the same sentiment after being asked about being brought in to compete as a backup quarterback.

“Honestly, man, I’m just here right now to try to help this team in every way possible, whether it’s in the quarterback room, the wide receiver room – there’s some young talent in that room,” Bridgewater said. “I’m excited to just share some of the wisdom that I have, the experience that I have from being in different organizations, being in different offenses, being on different teams with guys who’ve had success at the wide receiver position. Then you got great leaders already in that room who set a great example for those guys. So honestly, I’m just going to do whatever the role is for me, try to be a humble servant like I’ve been doing.”

Regardless of what happens during the latest stop of his well-traveled playing career, Bridgewater sees the game from a different perspective after being a coach.

“When I became a coach, it honestly expanded my mental,” Bridgewater said. “I became a more detailed player from being a coach because now as I’m game-planning as a coach, I’m really having to dissect film. When you’re a player, sometimes you just look for these little things, little tells. As a coach, you really have to dive in to know your opponent…You’re doing all the work yourself. That just helps me from being a better film watcher, and it helped me understand a lot of offensive line terminology. Now, I’m not just a quarterback when I’m the coach. I have all 11 guys’ job on offense and defense.”

While Teddy Bridgewater puts a pause on being a head coach and focusing on what everyone else is doing on the football field, his job now is to be the best quarterback he can be. It will be interesting to see the impact and imprint he can leave on younger players and even a quarterback room led by Baker Mayfield over the next few weeks – and potentially the whole season.