The Minnesota Vikings will not exercise the fifth-year option on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday.
The move comes as Bridgewater continues to rehab his brutal knee injury suffered last summer. The quarterback dislocated his knee and tore his ACL.
The option on Bridgewater's option would have been worth more than $12 million, a bargain rate for a starting quarterback, but the Vikings couldn't guarantee it due to the quarterback's injury.
The injury places Bridgewater's NFL future in limbo.
This offseason, Mike Zimmer admitted he wasn't sure if Bridgewater would be able to play again. While the coach hopes the quarterback can remain a Viking, it's anyone's best guess when or if Bridgewater will ever return to the promise he showed his first two seasons.
The 24-year-old signal-caller is likely to start the final season of his rookie contract on the physically unable to perform list. If he doesn't come off the PUP list for the entire 2017 season, his contract would toll and add another year in Minnesota, Rapoport previously reported.
With Sam Bradford, whom the Vikings traded for after Bridgewater's injury, also entering the final year of his contract, the quarterback situation in Minnesota could be murky heading into 2018.
The Vikings did exercise the fifth-year option on linebacker Anthony Barr on Monday.
