Bridgewater brings a lot of experience to the Lions, the last team he was on before deciding to retire. The Louisville star, a former first-round pick of the Vikings, spent three seasons in four years in Minnesota, only leaving after suffering an incredibly serious knee injury that cost him the entire 2016 season and only left him late allowed him to return for the 2017 campaign, his last in Minnesota.

The severity of his injury and the very long journey back to the field meant that he was relegated to journeyman status in the next few years. From 2018 to 2022, Bridgewater made stops with the Jets, Saints, Panthers, Broncos and Dolphins before landing in Detroit in 2023.

Some might see the Bridgewater signing as a sign that second-year backup Hendon Hooker is a legitimate option behind Jared Goff. Campbell downplayed that narrative Thursday.

“That doesn’t mean we’re disappointed with Hooker,” he said. “That’s not what this means. It just means we have a guy, someone who has played in the NFL a lot. We’re getting ready for the playoffs, so it would be good to have him back with us.” “

The move is a smart one: If the Lions are on the doorstep of a second straight Super Bowl and lose Goff to injury, they will at least have another experienced player in Bridgewater who can replace him. It would protect against a catastrophic scenario in which Detroit would be forced to put the inexperienced hooker in a high-risk situation with his season and his highest ambitions on the line.

“He has improved. He really did,” Campbell said of Hooker. “We feel like he’s getting a little bit better every week and that doesn’t mean Hooker is out. That doesn’t mean. If it comes to that, Hooker will play for us. But Teddy probably will too.”

“I understand what it looks like, but it’s just a different world that we want to enter and I just felt like this was the right thing to do.”

The other world Campbell is talking about is the one the Lions faced last season when they built an early lead over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, only to watch it melt away in the final minutes. The stakes and pressure are exponentially higher in the postseason, and there’s no reason to pass up adding a veteran at the most important position if possible. As the saying goes, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Bridgewater brings another benefit to the Lions: He can improve their struggling defense in practice, which is becoming increasingly valuable as injuries force Detroit to shuffle its pieces.

“Whenever he gets his sea legs back under him, he’s going to test these guys a little bit defensively, which is good in practice,” Campbell said of Bridgewater. “I just feel like it’s hard not to have those people around or add them when you can, when you have people that you feel like make everyone around you a little bit better. “

As Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes have done since arriving in Detroit, they are making an addition that they believe will benefit the Lions. In a historic season for the franchise, that’s only right.