2018 NFL trade deadline: 12 trades that should happen
By Ian Wharton
Jaguars trade Calais Campbell to Saints for Teddy Bridgewater
Here’s a blockbuster that would help two teams as the Jacksonville Jaguars would right a wrong by acquiring Teddy Bridgewater for Calais Campbell and a fourth-round pick.
There’s a lot that would need to take place for this deal. First, the Saints would need to admit that trading for Bridgewater was a strange move, assuming that Drew Brees is going to continue playing for a few years. As well as Bridgewater would fit with Sean Payton, giving up a third-round pick for a to-be free-agent in a weak free-agent class was costly.
The Saints could parlay Bridgewater into needed trench talent with Calais Campbell. They’d have to restructure Brees’ and Terron Armstead’s deals to open the requisite, massive cap space for Campbell’s remaining $8.75 million hit. It’s possible though.
For Jacksonville, the move would remove Campbell’s bloated salary from the books and dramatically help their 2019 cap situation. Campbell is still a good player, but not worth the money for them as his consistency has dipped at 32 years old.
The Saints can justify it easier as they continue to mortgage the future to win with Brees.
Acquiring Bridgewater would be a sizable upgrade on Blake Bortles. Bortles isn’t starting-caliber, and the team lacks a real option to supplant him in 2019. He’s ruining a Super Bowl window for this franchise, and their decision to pass on a quarterback in 2017 and Lamar Jackson in 2018 is costing their short- and long-term outlook dearly.
Bridgewater is a terrific West Coast quarterback with his placement, timing, consistency, and general accuracy. He’s not a huge playmaker at the position and is more conservative, but he’s more than good enough to justify investing in long-term as the starter for a defensive team.