Teddy Bridgewater Retirement Teased After Stepping Away from Lions

Detroit Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is putting his NFL career on pause again.

Coach Dan Campbell told reporters Sunday that Bridgewater is stepping away from the team for undisclosed reasons:

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport suggested the 33-year-old could be headed for retirement, adding he was officially designated as reserve/retired.

Bridgewater initially retired upon the conclusion of the 2023 season and pivoted to coaching. He helped alma mater Miami Northwestern High School win a Florida state title in 2024.

The veteran signal-caller came out of retirement in December 2024 and signed with the Lions. He appeared in their loss to the Washington Commanders in the NFC divisional round.

After spending the 2025 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bridgewater returned to the Motor City on a one-year contract. He was poised to back up Jared Goff.

His abrupt exit means former Illinois star Luke Altmyer is the next man up in the depth chart.

Across three seasons with the Fighting Illini, Altmyer threw for 7,607 yards and 57 touchdowns. His 217.3 yards per game are the third-most in program history.

Bleacher Report ranked Altmyer as the No. 13 quarterback in the 2026 draft class. He wound up signing with the Lions as an undrafted free agent.

Leaning on the rookie as the backup would be less than ideal for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, but there aren't many quarterbacks still unsigned at this point in the offseason.

To fill out the QB room, Detroit may prefer to wait and see who returns to the market as teams eventually trim down their rosters ahead of Week 1.