NFL teams across the league need to trim their active rosters from 90 players to 53 by Saturday's 4 pm ET deadline, which means more than 1,000 players will be released by week's end. As the deadline approaches, several big name players could also be traded - such as quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who the New York Jets traded to the New Orleans Saints today.
According to Sports Illustrated's Michael Silver, the Saints will send a third round pick to the Jets in exchange for Bridgewater and a sixth round pick.
Minnesota selected Bridgewater out of Louisville with the 32nd pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and after a Pro Bowl season in 2015, in which the Vikings went 11-5, he looked ready to take another step forward in 2016. However, a non contact knee injury kept him out of action for that entire season. While Bridgewater was healthy enough to be on the Vikings roster last year, the consistent play of Case Keenum kept the former first round pick on the sidelines.
The Jets signed the 25-year old QB to a one-year $5 million deal back in March, after missing out on the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes and weeks before selecting their QB of the future, Sam Darnold, with the third overall pick in the NFL Draft. New York also brought back veteran QB Josh McCown, who completed 67.3% of his passes for 2,926 yards with 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 13 games last season. With three QBs on the roster, it was always assumed that Bridgewater was likely to be the odd man out.
As a result of today's move, the Jets essentially announced that 21-year old rookie Sam Darnold will be the team's starting QB for the 2018-19 season. New York kicks off their season on Monday night, September 10, in Detroit. That game, airing on ESPN, is scheduled to kickoff at 7:10pm ET.