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Teddy Bridgewater is walking away from the NFL for good.
The veteran quarterback announced his retirement Monday, one day after the Detroit Lions placed him on the reserve/retired list. Bridgewater, 33, had briefly retired following the 2023 season before returning to the league the following year.
“This time it’s official,” Bridgewater wrote in an Instagram post.
The decision comes nearly a decade after Bridgewater suffered a devastating left knee injury during a Minnesota Vikings practice. The noncontact injury, which occurred in 2016, included a dislocated knee and multiple ligament tears and threatened to end his career after just two NFL seasons.
Bridgewater ultimately returned and played another 10 seasons.
“It’s so crazy 10 years ago around this time, I suffered one of the most gruesome knee injuries the game itself, it’s players and some doctors had ever seen,” Bridgewater wrote. “Everything football related since 2016 had been fueled by the ‘experts’ predicting that I would never play football again. We really showed them by playing 10 more seasons!”
Bridgewater’s Body Leads to Retirement
Bridgewater said his knee has reached a point where it can no longer recover as it once did, making the decision to retire necessary.
“However, this wheel of mine can no longer deal with something so simple as standing around on the turf field,” he wrote. “This thing just doesn’t recover the same way it did years ago so I rather officially hang it up.”
Bridgewater said he wants to listen to his body and remain healthy enough to be present for his children as they grow.
“The game of football was beyond great to me and owes me nothing at all,” he wrote.
Lions coach Dan Campbell praised Bridgewater’s character and preparation when discussing his departure Sunday.
“I’ve known Teddy a long time, and the human being is unbelievable,” Campbell said. “Certainly, the player, everything that he’s about. The type of teammate he is, the way he prepares … always played the game up here and had a huge heart. He’s going to be missed.”
A Career Shaped by Adversity
The Vikings selected Bridgewater with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft out of Louisville. He quickly became the team’s starting quarterback and earned Pro Bowl honors in 2015 after leading Minnesota to an 11-5 record and an NFC North title.
His career took a dramatic turn the following offseason when he suffered the serious knee injury that forced him to miss the entire 2016 season. Although he returned in 2017, he never regained his starting role in Minnesota.
Bridgewater later played for the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins before finishing his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Lions.
He went 5-0 as a starter while filling in for Drew Brees with New Orleans in 2019, helping establish himself as one of the league’s more reliable veteran backups.
Bridgewater finished his NFL career with a 33-32 record in 65 starts. He completed 66.3% of his passes for 15,182 yards, 75 touchdowns and 47 interceptions.
Bridgewater Also Found Success as a Coach
Bridgewater’s first retirement did not keep him away from football.
After the 2023 season, he became head coach at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, his alma mater. He led the program to a Class 3A state championship before eventually returning to the NFL.
Bridgewater later acknowledged that he had provided players with expenses such as transportation, meals and recovery services during the season. His suspension from the coaching position contributed to a broader discussion in Florida about what high school coaches should be permitted to provide for their athletes.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis subsequently signed the “Teddy Bridgewater Act,” allowing high school coaches in the state to use personal funds to assist players with expenses including food, transportation and rehabilitation services.
Bridgewater’s latest retirement leaves Jared Goff and undrafted rookie Luke Altmyer as the Lions’ quarterbacks, with Detroit potentially needing to add another veteran to the position before the regular season.
For Bridgewater, however, his priority is now life away from football.
He said he wants to be “in one piece” and available for his children as they grow, bringing an end to an 11-year NFL career that survived one of the most serious injuries of his generation.
