Teddy Bridgewater expected to become free agent

According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Teddy Bridgewater is expected to become a free agent, although no official decision has been made by Minnesota.

“Right now, he’s technically ready to become a free agent,” Spielman said, via 1500ESPN.com’s Judd Zulgad. “With the tolling, I know you guys wrote about all that, if it goes into that area, it’s not a Minnesota Viking [decision], that’s an NFL and player union [issue] that will have to decide that area.”

And while the NFL hasn’t made an official decision, AJ McCarron may have something to do with the reason Bridgewater appears headed for free agency. An arbitrator recently agreed that as a rookie McCarron was improperly placed on the non-football injury list. Instead of being a restricted free agent this offseason, McCarron is now headed for unrestricted free agency.

McCarron having won his grievance perhaps had something to do with the NFL not wanting to go down that same road with Bridgewater.

Meanwhile, the Vikings could still choose to re-sign their 2014 first-round pick, who will likely be paid like a backup after a serious knee injury in August 2016 forced him to miss all of 2016 and limited him to just one appearance last year behind Keenum.

Here’s hoping that however this plays out, Teddy gets a chance to get back on the field and prove himself at some point in the near future.