Denver Broncos trade target Teddy Bridgewater on ESPN Thursday

Teddy Bridgewater could be available from the New York Jets for a price, and if the Denver Broncos are interested, they can see him play on Thursday night.

If the Denver Broncos are scouting the rest of the NFL for potential backup quarterback candidates, there’s potentially no better candidate than New York Jets backup Teddy Bridgewater.

Predominantly Orange writer Cameron Parker called for the Broncos to trade for Bridgewater a week ago.

All of us here at Predominantly Orange have been clamoring for Bridgewater since the Vikings decided to let him test the waters as a free agent, and it looks like the Jets may have themselves something of an ace in the hole.

Bridgewater showed very well in the Jets’ preseason debut, stoking the trade rumor flames that have surrounded him.

The Jets are reportedly open to trading Bridgewater for the right price, and why not?

Bridgewater isn’t likely to start for the Jets this year, as they also employ both Josh McCown and Sam Darnold.

McCown is the experienced veteran and Darnold is the future of the team.

If the Jets feel like McCown can lead them to the postseason, he’ll play. He’s their highest paid player at the position this year.

Darnold, however, seems likely to play sooner than later. The Jets invested a ton to get him with the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and that leaves Bridgewater as the odd man out.

That doesn’t mean he’s not valuable to the Jets, it’s just the reality that he’s probably not going to play for them this year and might be better off on a different team.

The Broncos obviously have a solidified starter in Case Keenum and a young player worth developing in Chad Kelly, but if the team determines that Kelly is not yet ready to lead the team in case Keenum goes down (see what I did there?), they will want a veteran capable of leading them to wins.

Before the Vikings went through the quarterback craziness they did last year, and before they signed Kirk Cousins to a mega contract, it was Teddy Bridgewater who appeared to be the future of the franchise.

He even almost got a win in Denver in his second year with the Vikings back in 2015, the year Denver won the Super Bowl.

Bridgewater would undoubtedly be a good fit with the Broncos as a backup and would have a rare situation as a possible ’emergency franchise’ type of guy.

He’s still only 25 and if he’s fully healthy, he can really play.

If things would not pan out with Keenum, and Kelly’s development stalled for whatever reason, Bridgewater has the ability to start in the NFL and not just on a temporary basis.

Bridgewater will be in action against the Redskins on Thursday night, and the Jets will happily watch his value increase.