Teddy Bridgewater
Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Teddy Bridgewater is playing for the Buccaneers, but his heart is with his high school players at Miami Northwestern.
If they weren’t already, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now officially in the market for a backup quarterback in 2026.
The backup from 2025, veteran Teddy Bridgewater, is returning to the Detroit Lions on a free-agent contract.
“He’s back: Teddy Bridgewater is headed back to theLions, per The Insiders,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account.
Bridgewater, 33 years old, was the backup quarterback on the Lions in 2023 and 2024. He pulled off a training camp upset in 2025 with the Buccaneers when he beat out former 2nd round pick Kyle Trask to win the backup job to 2-time Pro Bowler Baker Mayfield.
There’s a chance the Buccaneers may already have a plan in place to replace Bridgewater.
“Just last week, we reported that the Buccaneers would not bring him back, making him a free agent,” Preme Football wrote on its official X account. “Bridgewater now heads back to Detroit.”
Bridgewater, who led Miami Northwestern High School to the state championship in 2024 as their head coach, has approximately $67.3 million in career earnings through 12 seasons.