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Earlier today, we mentioned that the Minnesota Vikings were content to let quarterback Teddy Bridgewater test the free agent market, even though we did not know the status of his contract “tolling” over to the 2018 NFL season. Per the language of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, it sounded like Bridgewater could potentially be under Minnesota’s control for the 2018 season after being unable to perform football services for the first six eeks of the 2017 season.
Thanks to Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, it appears that we now have the official answer.
An update on Teddy Bridgewater: Sources say the NFL Management Council has decided not to toll his contract for next year. He'll be a free agent on March 14, absent a new deal with the Vikings before then.
— Ben Goessling (@GoesslingStrib) February 27, 2018
Bridgewater’s contract will not toll into next season and, as Goessling says, unless he and the Vikings agree to a contract before then, he will officially hit the free agent market when the new league year begins on 14 March.
It would appear that this ends Bridgewater’s time in Minnesota, though I suppose there’s always a chance that the team could bring him back once it becomes clear what sort of market he has in free agency. But, we now officially know the answer to whether or not his contract will toll, and the answer is “no.”