'Completely False': Teddy Bridgewater's Agent Denies New Contract Speculation
Someone from Teddy Bridgewater's camp wanted it public that the Denver Broncos' pending free-agent quarterback is seeking upwards of $25 million per year on his next deal, as Benjamin Allbright of KOA Radio reported prior to last Sunday's game against Detroit.
It's Step 1 in the NFL negotiational process, the birth of potential long-term talks.
Step 2 is pretending, upon encountering resistance, that same knowledge never existed — often quickly, often condemningly.
Such as they did.
"Teddy is focused on the season and winning football games," Bridgewater's agent, Kennard McGuire, told 9News' Mike Klis on December 15. "Anything outside of that is completely false."
Coincidentally (or not), McGuire's denial of Bridgewater's alleged contract demands came mere minutes after his client publically shot down Allbright's reporting. Bridgewater copy-and-pasted carefully manufactured messaging from his reps, whom he name-dropped in denouncing "false" speculation.
“Until it comes from me, it’s not true," Bridgewater said during his weekly press conference. "That’s what happens during this time of year. You see numbers come out. You try to put a value on a guy so that if things don’t work out with the team that he’s playing on, it’s, ‘Oh, he wanted too much money.’ I’ll tell you right now—I haven’t mentioned anything about a deal. My primary focus is trying to help this team win football games and trying to get into the playoffs. The rest will take care of itself. My job is to play football. All that other stuff, that’s for my agent and my advisors. I’m here to help this team be a better football team every day.
"It didn’t come from me, so it’s false for sure. Until you hear it from me, or hear it from my camp, don’t believe anything you read."
Ticketed for 2022 unrestricted free agency, Bridgewater was recently projected by Pro Football Focus to net a two-year, $40 million pact (including $27.5 million guaranteed) on the open market. Checking into the situation, Allbright reported prior to the Week 14 win over Detroit that Bridgewater is seeking a multi-year commitment "in the range of $25 million per year" but "acknowledges he doesn't expect the Broncos to be the team to give him that contract."
Playing on a modified, one-year, $10 million pact upon arriving via trade from Carolina, Bridgewater has completed 67.6% of his passes for 2,954 yards, a personal-best 18 touchdowns, and seven interceptions — a cumulative 96.5 QB rating — through 13 starts for the 7-6 Broncos. With four games remaining, the seventh-year pro is on the doorstep of setting new single-season career highs in attempts (273), completions (404), and TD percentage (4.6).
For context, at $25 million annually, Bridgewater would crack the financial ranks of Tampa Bay's Tom Brady and Las Vegas' Derek Carr, per OverTheCap.com. There are no signal-callers making $20 million for the 2021 campaign.
The Broncos have not committed to Bridgewater as its starting quarterback beyond this season.
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