Who Should I Start? Teddy Bridgewater or Sam Darnold

Saturday, December 16, 12:28 PM

Detroit Lions backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said that he plans to hang up his cleats and retire from professional football after the 2023 season concludes. In his ninth NFL season, Bridgewater hasn't attempted a pass this year as the backup to Jared Goff in his first year in Detroit. The 31-year-old was once considered a franchise QB for the Minnesota Vikings before suffering a devastating knee injury. He spent the first three years of his career in Minnesota and made his lone Pro Bowl appearance in 2015. Injuries continued to limit Bridgewater in recent years, and he made only two starts for the Miami Dolphins since 2021. If Bridgewater doesn't play the rest of this season, he'll end his career with a 66.4 completion percentage on 2,067 attempts for 15,120 yards, 75 touchdowns and 47 interceptions in 79 games (65 starts) with Minnesota, New Orleans, Carolina, Denver and Miami.

Monday, March 25, 2:16 PM

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said that he's happy to have veteran quarterback Sam Darnold on the team this year. "I think his best football is ahead of him because of how he handled the last couple of years," O'Connell said. The Vikings head coach points out that he saw growth with Darnold's fundamentals as he worked as Brock Purdy's backup in San Francisco last year, and he's excited to get to work with him in Minnesota. The Vikings signed the former first-rounder to a one-year, $10 million deal this offseason, and depending on what the team does in the upcoming NFL draft, Darnold could open the year as the starter under center in Week 1. He'll have one of the best receivers in the game in Justin Jefferson to work with if he's starting, but Darnold will still be a midrange QB2, at best, in fantasy.