Panthers Coach Matt Rhule Won't Commit To Teddy Bridgewater At The QB Spot in 2021

The Carolina Panthers have some tough roster decisions to make this offseason, starting with veteran Teddy Bridgewater and the quarterback spot.

The 28-year-old just wrapped up his first season as Panthers signal caller, but it wasn't a great year for the Cats. Under new coach Matt Rhule, the team went 5-11, losing four of their last five.

Bridgewater had a lowly 64.1 QB rating in 2020, throwing for 3,733 yards with 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

In his end of the year press conference, Rhule would not commit to Bridgewater as the starter of the Panthers' future. Instead, he took more of a "wait and see" approach to the QB spot.

“We’ll see what happens moving forward," Rhule said.

“Teddy is here. I have a lot of respect for him. I believe in what he can do. I’ve seen glimpses, flashes of us as an offense, looking really good. We need to get Christian back. We need to have a run game we can rely on.

“With regards to the draft and players, we’ll look at every opportunity to have the best we can have at every position, and that includes the quarterback position."

Along with Bridgewater, the team went with backups P.J. Walker and Tommy Stevens in the final game of the season, a 33-7 beatdown by the NFC South champions, the New Orleans Saints. Bridgewater did get the start, but struggled, going just 13-for-23 for 176 yards and a pair of interceptions.

If Carolina does go the draft route for their next quarterback, it will be the first time they have done so since drafting ex-QB Cam Newton with the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. The only other time the team took a QB in the first round was back in their first season (1995) when the team drafted Kerry Collins.

Bridgewater inked a three-year deal worth a reported $63 million with the Panthers prior to last season.