Reason to Be Skeptical of Adam Schefter’s Teddy Bridgewater Report

Sept 22 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) before a game against the Florida International Golden Panthers at FIU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN’s #1 NFL Insider Adam Schefter said something on SportsCenter Thursday morning that will have a lot of Viking fans jumping for joy. And a lot of them swearing under their breath.

But maybe the best reaction to the report would be to totally ignore it.

Per Rotoworld, Schefter reported on SC that the Vikings are “the team to watch for Teddy Bridgewater” come draft day, though not necessarily at the #8 pick.

The indication is that the Vikings do like Bridgewater but do not want to take him high, and could trade back into the late first to secure him.

It sounds fine, it fits with everything we’ve been hearing, it makes perfect sense when you consider Bridgewater’s perceived draft value.

So why am I slightly skeptical of the report?

I have to consider the source. Not that Adam Schefter is an unreliable reporter. He probably has as high a success rate breaking stories as anyone.

But this is the time of year when every report coming from an insider has to be taken with a grain of salt. Lots of stuff gets put out there as teams jockey for position and try to bluff each other.

And, the truth of the matter is, Adam Schefter has participated in the smokescreening process before.

I go back to 2012. The Vikings, most everyone agreed, were totally sold on Matt Kalil as their first round pick.

But in the days leading up to the draft, Rick Spielman decided he wanted to generate some trade possibilities, so it started “leaking out” that the Vikings weren’t totally sold on Kalil and might prefer Justin Blackmon or Morris Claiborne.

The biggest, most high-impact report to this effect? It came from Adam Schefter.

Where exactly Schefter got his “Vikings aren’t sold on Kalil” report from, who knows. All I know is that it was total BS. And that it served Rick Spielman’s purposes too perfectly to be an accident.

I’ll give Schefter the benefit of the doubt and believe he unwittingly passed on a piece of information that wasn’t totally accurate. It wouldn’t be fair to accuse him of deliberately carrying water for the Vikings, perhaps to pay off an earlier favor.

Would it?

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