The Minnesota Vikings are unlikely to pick up Teddy Bridgewater’s fifth-year option, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The anticipated option is over $11 million, and the biggest concern is the injury guarantee, according to Schefter’s Vikings sources.
UPDATE: Joel Corry at CBS reports that Bridgewater’s option would have been north of $12 million
UPDATE TWO: If the Vikings start Bridgewater on the Physically Unable to Perform List and never take him off of it, this year will be treated as if it never happened in his contract, and it gets functionally extended by one year.
The money is a problem, too. Earlier this month, we isolated one of the biggest problems for the Vikings in the near future will be the convergence of the quarterback contracts of Sam Bradford and Bridgewater, especially in an environment where quarterbacks in the top 15 and top 20 are making more money relative to the cap than ever.
Sixteen years ago, the average of quarterbacks in the top-five of cap liability made twice as much as the average of quarterbacks in the top-20. This year, they only make 20 percent more.
The Vikings may want to extend Bradford, and if they do that at the same time they decline Bridgewater’s option, it could signal pessimism on the side of the front office.
It’s not necessarily the case — they could simply offer Bridgewater a friendlier deal than the option entails, and find some way to fit both him and Bradford under the cap — but it would be to date the first real sign we’ve seen on how the Vikings feel about Bridgewater’s long-term prospects.
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