Bridgewater turned down a chance to become the Dolphins starter last year, instead re-signing with the Saints on a one-year deal worth $7.25M. The former first-round pick again is a free agent, but Saints coach Sean Payton does not appear to envision another year with the Brees-Bridgewater-Hill troika together.

The 14-year Saints coach said it is “unrealistic” to bring all three back, according to Mike Triplett of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Although Bridgewater helped the Saints to a 5-0 mark as a starter while Brees recovered from injury, the 27-year-old QB may be closer to one of the free agency dominoes than set for another year as Brees’ backup. The priority appears to be Hill, who is a restricted free agent.

If Brees comes back to start a possible multi-year transition to Hill, the Saints are expected to place a first-round RFA tender on Hill, reports Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN. The 2019 first-round tender price was $4.4M.

It would represent a remarkable rise for the former undrafted free agent to receive the rare first-round tender, and it may remain a slight stretch to envision Hill becoming a surefire No. 1 quarterback. The unique passing-rushing-receiving weapon has only thrown 13 career passes. The prospect of a 2021 Brees-to-Hill transition makes more sense because sources informed Fowler and Graziano that Hill may not be ready to be New Orleans’ starter in 2020.

This would shift the focus to Brees, whose retirement talk is believed to be genuine.

A BYU alum, Hill will turn 30 before Week 1 of next season. Brees recently turned 41. Brees has said he is not going anywhere else; the future Hall of Famer will play for the Saints in 2020 or retire.