have granted him the right to seek a trade (though Newton commented that he did not want to be traded and that he loved the Panthers). That decision opened the doors for the team to sign or trade for a new quarterback. Previously, some thought that perhaps Jameis Winston or Philip Rivers might be the man for the job but the organization decided on Teddy Bridgewater.

The Panthers and Teddy Bridgewater are negotiating a 3-year contract in the $60 million range, per source. The deal is not done as they work out details but it is expected to be complete when new league year opens Wednesday.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 17, 2020

The deal is pretty reasonable, far less than someone like Dak Prescott will get on the open market and really leaves the team open to drafting another young quarterback or maybe even signing competition for Bridgewater. For example, Bridgewater is making closer to Chase Daniel’s yearly salary amount than what Dak Prescott’s franchise tag number will be.

Carolina Panthers Fantasy Football Impact

Given just how bad Kyle Allen and Will Grier were last year, this has to be thought of as a big victory for DJ Moore, Curtis Samuel and Ian Thomas. We have not altered Christian McCaffrey’s projection significantly; there is some evidence that Teddy Bridgewater’s low average depth of target is going to be an even bigger boon for CMC but projecting further improvements on a record-breaking season is not in our wheelhouse.

Kyle Allen averaged a horrendous 6.8 YPA last season; Teddy’s career average is 7.2. Whatever measure you want to use, Allen was one of the worst starting quarterbacks to get significant run in the NFL last season. Even assuming league average QB, the floors and ceilings for Moore and Samuel have been significantly raised. There is also good evidence that Curtis Samuel is miscast as a deep threat (the way Carolina chose to use him last year) and that a quarterback who favors lower average depth of target throws like Bridgewater might benefit him from a fantasy football perspective.

In any scenario, this cannot be viewed as a downgrade for a very concentrated and highly talented fantasy football offense. Teddy doesn’t rate amazing in our projections but given the skill level of the players he is playing with, I would not quibble with a high-end QB2 ranking.