The Lions need a new backup quarterback.
Teddy Bridgewater has informed the club that he’s going to step away, with retirement likely.
Bridgewater had not attended the last two practices.
“Teddy Bridgewater is going to step away,” head coach Dan Campbell said in his Sunday press conference. “I’ve known Teddy a long time and, man, the human being is unbelievable — certainly the player. Everything that he’s about, the type of teammate he is, the way that he prepares, [he] always played the game up here, and had a huge heart. He’s going to be missed.
“So, I’ll never forget 2019 [with the Saints] when Drew [Brees] got injured — we’d just gone out to the Rams, got beat out there, and Drew got his thumb, and we lost him for five weeks. And Teddy stepped in, we won five in a row, man. That was Teddy. And just his time being with us [with the Lions] meant a lot and it meant a lot to our guys. So, he’s going to be missed.”
Campbell added that he thinks this time Bridgewater will stay retired.
“His biggest worry was letting us down,” Campbell said. “That’s the type of guy he is. And he’s not.”
But that means the Lions do now need a backup quarterback, as the only other QB on the roster aside from starter Jared Goff is undrafted rookie Luke Altmyer.
“We’re going to add somebody,” Campbell said. “We like Luke. Luke is growing, he’s getting better. He just needs reps. He needs a million reps. With the reps that he has gotten at this point, he has improved. So, we like him.
“But we are going to add somebody, and we’d like to add a veteran quarterback. We’re hoping maybe something happens tomorrow. We’ll see. But, yeah, that’s the plan.”
Bridgewater signed with the Lions on a one-year deal back in March. He was previously with the club in 2023 and 2024 before spending the 2025 season with Tampa Bay.
The No. 32 overall pick of the 2014 draft, Bridgewater appeared in 83 games with 65 starts, accumulating a 33-32 record as a starter. He appeared in games for Minnesota, New Orleans, Carolina, Denver, Miami, Detroit, and Tampa Bay.
