Fresh off HS title, Bridgewater returning to Lions

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is coming out of retirement and is signing with the Detroit Lions, coach Dan Campbell confirmed Thursday.

Campbell said Bridgewater’s return does not mean the team is disappointed with current backup quarterback Hendon Hooker.

Bridgewater had said last week that he wanted to return to the NFL after coaching Miami Northwestern Senior High School, his alma mater, to the Class 3A Florida High School Athletic Association state title earlier this month.

“My team knows that’s the plan. We wanted to win a state championship and then coach goes back to the league, see what happens, and then come back February in the offseason, continue coaching high school football. We’ll see how it plays out,” he told NFL Network’s “The Insiders” last week.

Bridgewater, 32, spent last season as the Lions’ backup quarterback behind starter Jared Goff.

After retiring, he was hired by Miami Northwestern in February, tasked with turning around a program that had gone 4-6 the previous season. Miami Northwestern went 12-2 on the season, outscoring its opponents 262-12 in five playoff games. It finished the season on a 10-game winning streak.

A first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, Bridgewater’s career was derailed by a torn ACL and dislocated knee suffered during training camp in 2016; he missed all of that season and most of 2017 before leaving the Vikings. He spent two seasons with the New Orleans Saints (2018-19), started 29 games over two seasons for the Carolina Panthers (2020) and Denver Broncos (2021) and served as Tua Tagovailoa‘s backup with the Miami Dolphins in 2022, when he was limited by injuries again. He then signed with the Lions for last season and appeared in one game to kneel out a victory.

NFL Network first reported that Bridgewater was expected to sign with the Lions.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler contributed to this report.