Per Tom Pelissero and Adam Schefter:
And per Mike Klis:
Putting these reports together, it appears that the Broncos and Panthers agreed to split Bridgewater’s guaranteed salary of $10 million between them, with the Panthers taking the lion’s share of that cost, while Bridgewater agreed to an $6.5 million pay cut in 2021 in exchange for gaining the ability to become a free agent in 2022. Because Bridgewater’s contract was shortened, he will not be eligible to become a compensatory free agent in Denver’s favor next offseason.
As for my opinion, I am quite surprised that the Panthers were willing to eat $7 million in salary for only a 6th round pick, and that Bridgewater, if I’m understanding this correctly, was willing to take a pay cut to go to a team not entirely of his choosing. Meanwhile, for the Broncos they have finally succeeded at getting serious veteran competition for Drew Lock, and they are doing so at an excellent price of only $4.5 million and a 6th round pick.
The above has been corrected to include the additional $1.5 million in salary that the Broncos will take on, per Mike Klis’s second tweet at 12:44 PM MT.