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Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater we hardly knew ye . . .
ESPN’s Adam Schefter announced that the Jets traded quarterback Teddy Bridewater and a sixth round pick to the New Orleans Saints for a third-round pick.
The Saints have decided Bridgewater is still young enough to be groomed to be the heir-apparent to Drew Brees. Bridgewater is only 25-years-old.
They also feel he gives them a better insurance policy than Taysom Hill or Tom Savage.
Is this a good trade?
The answer to that is simple.
If the Jets lose Sam Darnold and Josh McCown to injuries, it’s a bad trade. I’m saying it up front, so nobody can say I’m second-guessing.
Look, the Jets kept three quarterbacks on their active roster last year, and the guys in the two and three spots were shaky – Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg.
So if you willing to keep McCown, Petty and Hackenberg on the active roster last year, why not keep Darnold, McCown and Bridgewater active?
Obviously, on paper, Jets General Manager Mike Maccagnan made a brilliant move. He took a flyer on a QB still recovering from a serious knee injury, had his medical staff get him back to 100 percent, have him play in preseason games, and then flip him for a third-round pick.
I think Maccagnan has grown a great deal as a GM since he walked in the building and spent like a drunken sailor in 2015 free agency wasting a ton of money on defensive backs.
The trade-up for Sam Darnold, the Sheldon Richardson trade for a second-round pick and wide receiver Jermaine Kearse are a few examples of his growth.
He’s moved way off the growth curve. The jury is still out on the growth of the coach.
I don’t think trading Bridgewater is risky where you would you might say down the road, “How did you let a transcendent like that out of building?” I didn’t see that kind of guy summer. He’s very good, not great.
He has a good, not great arm, and tends to check down to underneath stuff a lot.
Let’s be honest, he was never allowed to really compete for the starting job in Florham Park, New Jersey. He was at One Jets Drive in case of injury this summer, and if there were no injuries, the Jets intended on trading him for a draft pick.
If another team had lost their starting quarterback in the preseason, perhaps the Jets could have gotten higher than a the a third-round pick. But considering NFL teams keep their starters in bubble wrap these days, and hardly play them, or don’t play them at all, the odds were against that happening.
I think he’s a solid quarterback, but not the kind of guy where you will rue the day the Jets traded him.
So once again, if they lose their first two quarterbacks, it’s a bad trade. If they don’t, it’s a good trade.
August 28, 2018
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