Bridgewater brings plenty of experience to the Lions, the last team he was on before he decided to retire. A former first-round pick of the Vikings, the Louisville star spent three seasons over four years in Minnesota, a place he left only after suffering an incredibly significant knee injury that cost him all of the 2016 season and only allowed him to return late in the 2017 campaign, his last in Minnesota.
The seriousness of his injury and very long road back to the field relegated him to journeyman status over the next few years. From 2018-2022, Bridgewater made stops with the Jets, Saints, Panthers, Broncos and Dolphins before landing in Detroit in 2023.
Some might see Bridgewater’s signing as an indictment of second-year backup Hendon Hooker‘s viability as a legitimate option behind Jared Goff. Campbell downplayed that narrative Thursday.
“It doesn’t mean we’re disappointed in Hooker,” he said. “That’s not what this means. It just means this gives us a guy, somebody that’s played a lot in the NFL. We’re getting ready for the playoffs, so it’ll be good to get him back in the fold with us.”
The move is a wise one: If the Lions find themselves on the doorstep of the Super Bowl for a second straight season and happen to lose Goff to injury, they’ll at least have another well-seasoned player ready to replace him in Bridgewater. It would protect against a disastrous scenario in which Detroit would be forced to insert the inexperienced Hooker into a high-stakes situation with their season and highest ambitions on the line.
“He’s improved. He really has,” Campbell said of Hooker. “We feel like every week he’s gotten a little bit better, and this does not mean that Hooker is out. That’s not what this means. If it comes to that, Hooker’s gonna play for us. But Teddy probably will, too.
“I understand what it looks like, but it’s just a different world that we’re getting ready to walk into, and I just felt like this was the right thing to do.”
The different world of which Campbell speaks is the one the Lions encountered last season when they grabbed an early lead over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, only to watch it melt away in the final minutes. The stakes and pressure are exponentially higher in the postseason, and there’s no reason to avoid adding a veteran at the most important position if possible. As the saying goes, those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
Bridgewater also brings another benefit to the Lions: He can push their banged up defense in practice, which will be increasingly valuable as Detroit is forced to shuffle pieces in response to injuries.
“Whenever he gets his sea legs back under him, he’ll test those guys a bit defensively, which is good in practice,” Campbell said of Bridgewater. “I just feel like when you get guys that you feel like make everybody around them a little bit better, it’s hard not to have those guys around or add them if you can.”
As Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes have done since they’ve arrived in Detroit, they’re making an addition they feel will benefit the Lions. In a historic season for the franchise, it’s only right.
