NEWSLETTER
It was only a matter of time before the Bengals parted ways with Andy Dalton.
And that day appears to be here:
Bengals are releasing QB Andy Dalton, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 30, 2020
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets Cincinnati is cutting Andy Dalton, who spent the last nine years of his career with the Bengals. The move clears the way for first overall pick Joe Burrow to take over as QB1 as soon as the 2020 season starts (whenever that might be), while also clearing north of $17 million worth of cap space.
News of Dalton’s pending release re-opens the conversation we had about the opening the Bears had at quarterback earlier in the offseason, of which Dalton was a rumored target. Long before Chicago traded for Nick Foles and restructured his contract, Dalton was rumored to be a fit in Chicago.
That time line feels like it happened forever ago, so let’s re-visit it to refresh our memories:
• November: A way-too-early prediction pegged Chicago as a landing spot for Dalton for the 2020 season.
• December: Another insider declared Dalton as a fit for a re-worked Bears quarterbacks room.
• Mid-January: When the Bears hired Bill Lazor to replace Mark Helfrich as offensive coordinator, the move had us wondering if it had anything to do with a possible pursuit of Dalton. After all, the two worked well together while in Cincinnati.
• Later in January: Another NFL insider offered up another bold prediction that Dalton would be the Bears’ starting quarterback in 2020.
• February: The Bears reportedly touched base with the Bengals regarding a Dalton trade, with reports around the league sharing rumors that the Bengals could command a second or third-round pick or something similar to the fourth-round pick the Broncos sent to the Ravens for Joe Flacco in the 2019 offseason.
• March: We wrote up a profile on Dalton as a potential Bears trade target, underscoring the short-term fit.
The quarterback landscape has changed, not just in Chicago, but around the league. And the game of musical chairs has left Dalton (and Cam Newton) without a starting chair to sit in for the time being.
Now, don’t get me wrong … I hear what you have to say about how the Bears could have waited it out, not traded for Foles, and allowed themselves to reward their patience by picking between Dalton (who has a similar (albeit, lesser) familiarity with the Bears’ scheme and coaches) and Newton (a player who has more upside when healthy, despite not having any familiarity with Chicago’s offense). But it would be unfair to ignore Foles’ system fit or the restructured contract that simultaneously makes Foles a bargain and someone whose contract will be easy to escape if things go sideways in 2020. (None of this is to mention Dalton’s steeply declining performance the last five years.)
And if things go off the rails in 2020, then it’s possible we’re talking about changes at quarterback, coach, and throughout the front office. So while we have a ways to go until we get to the bridge that needs to be crossed before that even becomes worth discussing beyond a cursory level, we should probably prepare ourselves for unforeseen options down the pipeline.
In the end, Dalton is a free agent and the Bears have Foles and Mitch Trubisky set to duke it out for QB1 honors. Though, if I had my druthers, Chicago would also bring in Dalton on a super-cheap contract similar to that of Jameis Winston’s deal with he Saints, and had a truly open quarterback competition.
Then again, Dalton is going to the Patriots, where Bill Belichick will turn him into GOAT Jr., right?
