Bridgewater Back in the NFL, and the Lesson the Dolphins Hopefully Learned With Him

The Miami Dolphins could have used his services this season

Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) throws a pass against the New England Patriots in the first quarter at Gillette Stadium late in the 2022 season. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Former Miami Dolphins backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is headed back to the NFL after his wildly successful first year as a high school.

Bridgewater has rejoined the Detroit Lions, the team for which he served as a backup in 2023 before retiring to become head coach at his alma mater of Miami Northwestern High School, which he guided to a state title.

The Lions signed Bridgewater to their active roster, and the idea is he will give the Lions a more proven backup heading into the playoffs than 2023 second-round pick Hendon Hooker, who has attempted nine passes in his career at the end of three blowout wins.

While there's no guarantee Bridgewater will want to continue playing after this second stint with the Lions, the Dolphins absolutely should consider him as an option next offseason if he does.

Put bluntly, the Dolphins would have been in much better shape early this season had they still had Bridgewater as their backup instead of the combination of Skylar Thompson, Tyler "Snoop" Huntley and Tim Boyle.

Bridgewater actually did a very good job as a backup for Tua Tagovailoa in 2022, except for being able to stay in the lineup.

And with a starting quarterback with Tagovailoa's injury history, the Dolphins couldn't afford to have a fragile backup, which made walking away from Bridgewater after one season a logical move. But if they don't have a better option next offseason, the Dolphins should revisit the idea of trying to get Bridgewater back.

As the backup for Tagovailoa in 2022, the production was there for Bridgewater, and that's a fact, no matter what some Dolphins fans would have you believe.

As we've chronicled here before, Bridgewater played about the equivalent of nine quarters in his five appearances in 2022, though he never played as much as three full quarters in any of those.

But projected to a full 17-game season, Bridgewater's stats in his five games projected to more than 5,300 yards and Tyreek Hill's stats with Bridgewater projected to more than 2,300 yards.

So production wasn't the issue.

Again, who knows whether Bridgewater has any interest in being a backup again in 2025, but if he is, the Dolphins could do worse. Which is what they did this year. And that's a move that proved costly because the Dolphins likely wouldn't have gone 1-3 with Bridgewater as the backup (assuming he'd stayed healthy) the way they did this season when Tagovailoa was on injured reserve.