CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Long before Teddy Bridgewater was introduced to Joe Brady with the New Orleans Saints, long before the Carolina Panthers personnel department made Bridgewater the player to replace franchise quarterback Cam Newton, the former Louisville star was on coach Matt Rhule’s radar.
It was about seven years ago. Rhule was the Temple coach watching on television as Bridgewater played for the Minnesota Vikings. Evan Cooper, his director of external operations and, like Bridgewater, a native of Miami, was with him.
“We always joked like, 'If you ever get one of those [NFL] jobs, that’s the first guy you should go after,'" Cooper recalled.