The Facts: Bridgewater, whom the Saints acquired in August from the New York Jets in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2019 draft, will go into this offseason as an unrestricted free agent at the game’s most important position. The wounds were still too fresh from Sunday’s overtime loss to the Rams in the NFC championship game for Bridgewater to publicly comment on his future with the organization. “Who knows how it will all play out?” Bridgewater said. “I’m just taking it one day at a time and trying to swallow what happened yesterday. … That’s something that stings for a while. Whatever happens in the future, it’ll just happen.”
Diehards Line:There will almost certainly be a market for Bridgewater’s services this offseason. He is a 26-year-old former first-round pick who has had success as a starting quarterback. He will enter unrestricted free agency with the likes of Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Robert Griffin III and Brett Hundley, among others. Six free agent quarterbacks signed free agent contracts worth more than $10 million annually last season. AJ McCarron was the only one of that group who was not at least 30 years old by season’s end. There was some concern about his health when he went into free agency last year after a knee injury cost him nearly two full seasons in Minnesota, but he appears to have eased some of those concerns after signing a one-year prove-it deal with the Jets last offseason. Bridgewater only saw substantial playing time in one game, completing 14 of 22 passes with a touchdown and an interception in Week 17, but he turned in a strong preseason with the Jets and got through the season without any health complications. Now, he said, is his major goal this offseason. “Trying to become a better player and continue to find ways to make an impact in this league,” Bridgewater said. “That’s my focus right now.” Whether that ends up happening in New Orleans or elsewhere is to be determined.