Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s gruesome knee injury that he suffered just prior to the 2016 season is so severe that it could keep him from seeing the field until 2018.
According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, doctors informed the Vikings that the recovery time for an injury as severe as Bridgewater’s would take at least 19 months. Bridgewater suffered a tibiofemoral dislocation and ruptured ACL, which requires extensive rehabilitation.
“Doctors told the team that the shortest recovery time for that type of injury has been 19 months, the source said,” Cole said in a video. “Based on that timeline, Bridgewater likely won’t be recovered until March 2018 in the best case scenario.”
That timeline makes the Vikings trade for Sam Bradford seem far more understandable, as Minnesota shipped its first round pick this year and 2018’s fourth round pick to the Eagles. Bradford is under contract for 2017, with a $14 million base salary (up $1 million since he took 90% of the Vikings snaps last year) plus a $4 million roster bonus that kicks in on March 13.
With Bridgewater expected to now miss the 2017 season in its entirety as well, that would seem to indicate that Bradford will likely earn that roster bonus and remain with the Vikings for the full season, with the hopes that Bridgewater makes a full recovery for 2018 when Bradford becomes an unrestricted free agent.
