Teddy Bridgewater explains sudden retirement from Lions

Richard Silva, The Detroit News on Aug 10, 2026

Published in Football

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ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Asked on Sunday whether Teddy Bridgewater's exit from the Detroit Lions meant he was completely done playing football, Dan Campbell said, "I think only he can truly answer that."

Bridgewater has now responded to that question.

"This time it's official," Bridgewater said in an Instagram post Monday. "It's so crazy 10 years ago around this time, I suffered one of the most gruesome knee injuries the game itself, its players and some doctors had ever seen. Everything football related since 2016 had been fueled by the 'experts' predicting that I would never play football again. We really showed them by playing 10 more seasons!

"However, this wheel of mine can no longer deal with something so simple as standing around on the turf field. This thing just doesn't recover the same way it did years ago so I rather officially hang it up. It's finally run its course and when the body speaks to me, I have to listen so I that I can be in one piece and available for my children as they grow up. The game of football was beyond great to me and owes me nothing at all."

Bridgewater was first signed by the Lions to be their backup quarterback in 2023. He was brought back toward the end of 2024 following a brief retirement to coach high school football, then spent 2025 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions again signed Bridgewater in March.

A first-round draft by the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, Bridgewater suffered a brutal leg injury at practice in 2016, one that included a torn ACL and a knee dislocation. He went on to make 37 starts over the next nine seasons, including an undefeated five-week stretch with the New Orleans Saints in 2019.

Campbell and Bridgewater overlapped for two seasons in New Orleans. The Lions coach was emotional Sunday while discussing Bridgewater stepping away.

"Just like one part of my career was fueled by a series of events, this next chapter of my life will be fueled with an abundance of love by this sweet little angel of ours that's coming in a couple of weeks," Bridgewater added.

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