How Teddy Bridgewater can return to the Vikings sooner than later

Will the quarterback ever start again in a Minnesota Vikings uniform?

On Sunday, former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is expected to make his first-ever regular-season start inside U.S. Bank Stadium.

Despite being on the Vikings roster when the building opened more than four years ago, Bridgewater never got the opportunity to start in a meaningful game for Minnesota after his devastating knee injury in the summer of 2016.

Following that injury, some thought the young quarterback’s career in the NFL was finished. Bridgewater almost lost part of his leg when he went down during a Vikings practice in 2016 and now, he’s preparing to lead the Carolina Panthers to a win over Minnesota this weekend.

During the 2018 offseason when Bridgewater became a free agent, there were some who wanted the Vikings to re-sign him and make him their starting signal-caller once again. But Minnesota was too unsure about his future following his serious knee injury and they decided to bring in Kirk Cousins instead.

Three seasons later and Bridgewater’s surgically repaired knee hasn’t been a problem for him at all during the time he’s spent with the Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and New York Jets.

After the 2020 campaign, Bridgewater will have two years remaining on his current contract with Carolina. The Panthers can get out of his contract after the 2021 season without much of a financial penalty, otherwise, he will become a free agent in 2023 when he will be 30-years-old.

Interestingly enough, Cousins’ current contract with the Vikings is also set to expire in 2023. It’s possible that both he and Bridgewater could hit free agency at the same time.

If this ends up happening and Minnesota is in need of a new starting quarterback, would they consider bringing back Bridgewater, the guy they selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft? There are a couple of factors that could determine whether this is something that could actually happen or not.