Bridgewater draws 1st start since 2015 in Saints' regular-season finale

With home-field advantage and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs wrapped up, the New Orleans Saints will start backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in their regular-season finale versus the Carolina Panthers, the team announced Friday.

Sunday will mark Bridgewater's first start since 2015. He missed the entire 2016 season after suffering a serious knee injury that required extensive surgery and rehabilitation. He returned to the sidelines last year.

The move will give Drew Brees, who's put together an MVP-caliber season in leading the Saints to a league-best 13-2 record, an additional week of rest ahead of New Orleans' divisional-round matchup.

The New York Jets signed Bridgewater to a one-year, $6-million contract and watched as he flourished in preseason action. Weeks before the start of the season, the Saints traded a third-round pick in the 2019 draft for Bridgewater and a sixth-rounder.