Former NFL Pro Bowl QB comes out of retirement after coaching Florida HS to state title

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Former NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has come out of retirement and signed with the Detroit Lions, the team he last played for in 2023, the team announced Thursday.

Bridgewater, 32, returns to the NFL about 10 months after retiring from the league in February. He spent last fall coaching his high school alma mater, Miami Northwest, to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A state championship.

Bridgewater will serve as the backup QB for Lions star Jared Goff, the same role he held during the 2023 NFL season, replacing current backup QB Hendon Hooker.

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The Lions have secured a playoff spot with a 13-2 record this season and can clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs if they win their final two games.

“Being able to bring someone back here that has experience – (Teddy) staying in shape, he’s been throwing, having him train here again a little bit – it just brings a level of professionalism, veteran presence, someone who is that .” “Great for our team, great for the position,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Thursday.

“That doesn’t mean we’re disappointed with Hooker. That’s not what this means. It just means we have someone here who has played a lot in the NFL. We are preparing for the playoffs so it will be good to have him back with us.”

Bridgewater said last week that he plans to return to coaching in February after the NFL season ends.

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

Bridgewater, a standout college player at Louisville, was drafted in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. The nine-year NFL veteran played his first three seasons with the Vikings before playing two seasons with the New Orleans Saints, where he played under Campbell, who was an assistant coach for the Saints at the time. Bridgewater also played one season each for the Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins before joining the Lions in 2023.

In his NFL career, Bridgewater has thrown for 15,120 yards while completing 66.4% of his passes, as well as 75 touchdowns and 47 interceptions in 79 games, including a 33-32 record as a starter.