By Jordan Long
The Cincinnati Bengals own the number 1 pick in this years NFL Draft. Assuming they don’t trade down, they are expected to select the quarterback of the future, Joe Burrow. With that, Cincinnati is going to try to trade quarterback Andy Dalton.
Dalton has been Cincinnati’s starting quarterback since they drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2011 Draft. In his time with the Bengals, Dalton tossed for 31,594 yards, ranking second in Cincinnati history, only behind Ken Anderson’s 32,838 yards. Dalton has a total of 204 touchdowns which is the most for a Bengals’ quarterback.
During his time, his career record is 70-61-2. Cincinnati made the postseason 4 times but he didn’t look like the same signal caller in the playoffs. Dalton couldn’t read the defenses with 1 touchdown and 6 interceptions. Cincinnati was a disappointing 0-4 in the playoffs.
This past year, Dalton was able to find his open receivers for them to catch the football with 3,494 yards. His problem was throwing the ball in coverage and forcing the football to a spot where the receiver wasn’t with a career low, 16 touchdowns. He was also picked off 14 times.
Cincinnati might as well explore a trade. He clearly wasn’t the same quarterback as in years past. In a trade at least they would receive something back even if it is a 3rd or a 4th round draft pick.
The problem with trading him is his contract. Dalton is in the last year of his deal which will pay him $17.5 million. A team won’t want to take that much on and if an agreement is struck, they may want to restructure the deal.
The best solution for Cincinnati if nobody wants Dalton is to keep him on the roster. Burrow will be able to learn the NFL game from Dalton. Even if Burrow beats out Dalton for the starting quarterback job, at least they have a veteran who has played the NFL game even though Dalton is expensive. Cincinnati will do what they feel is best to move the franchise forward.
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