New Orleans Saints: Keeping Teddy Bridgewater should be the play regardless

Teddy Bridgewater, in a league full of mediocre quarterbacks, deserves to be paid by the New Orleans Saints.

The New Orleans Saints have tough decisions to make this free agency. Currently, the NFC South’s reigning champs do not have a quarterback on their roster yet have three starter-level QBs as pending free agents.

Teddy Bridgewater, the 27-year-old backup that came on early in the season after turning down starting offers this past offseason, was tremendous in his five starts.

Taysom Hill, the only restricted free of the three, was dominant in the time he was on the field, showing versatility at nearly every offensive position.

Finally, we have Drew Brees, the future Hall of Famer that’s still playing at a very high level. Each should be paid, and like arguably more so than Brees, Bridgewater should viewed as the future of the Saints’ quarterback position.

During his time as the starter, he went 5-0. Four of those five victories were one-score games, meaning he showed composure late in the fourth as he helped down both Seattle and Dallas among other top teams.

Nine touchdowns and two interceptions in those five games, fans were given a treat when they watched Bridgewater rewind the clock, looking even better than his days in Minnesota.

But, will the Saints opt to keep him even at a high monetary value? The value shouldn’t be unreasonably high yet, but without knowledge of Brees’ retirement decision, it’d be tough to give him the keys without the certainty of Brees’ return.

Bridgewater could be the future of the team and he’s shown that he’s dedicated to the franchise, but when Miami calls again offering almost $20 million per year with an improved roster, it’d be difficult for him to say no.

Bridgewater will get paid, but the question now turns to who not when. Let’s hope, at the end of the day, the Saints, at the very least, give him a reasonable offer.