NFL Rumor: Vikings thought Browns would draft Teddy Bridgewater
The fun part about the NFL Draft is all of the information that leaks following picks and the entire event. With an exhilarating first round finished, here’s an interesting tidbit involving the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns as they both looked to trade up for a quarterback around the same time of the draft:
Hearing Vikings trade up offer that was outbid by Browns was for Teddy, not Johnny. Were scared Browns were taking Teddy.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) May 9, 2014
It’s obvious that these two teams had a different quarterback atop their draft board, the Vikings sticking with Teddy Bridgewater and the Browns sticking with Johnny Manziel. But the Vikings thinking the Browns would nab Teddy says a lot about the overall perception of Bridgewater. Based on college play, Bridgewater has always felt like the safe pick while Manziel’s ceiling has always been higher. Johnny Football’s freelance style scared many, but it’ll allow the entire field to be open for usage a la how Tony Romo and Drew Brees use their “deceptive speed” to create open space.
The Vikings lost little in the process as they eventually traded up into the first round, nabbing Bridgewater with the final pick of the first round. Looking at the current rosters of the two rosters, both Manziel and Bridgewater won’t be asked to carry their teams during their rookie seasons. Manziel will be able to lean on the team’s dynamic defense while Adrian Peterson opens up things for Bridgewater. Had the two been swapped, that would remain the same.
In the end both teams got their guy. Hoping to be quarterbacks of the future, the two marquee stars have a few months before it’s time to show what they can do against the best competition the world has to offer.