The red rifle is no longer a member of the Bengals. Cincinnati released Andy Dalton after 9 years with the franchise. This comes as a bit of a surprising move considering Joe Burrow now has zero competition. It would appear Burrow will slide right in as the immediate starter. Dalton is officially out.
Adam Schefter of ESPN was the first to report the news:
I still don’t understand the motivation from the Bengals’ point of view. Yes, he clears $17.7 million in cap space this year. It’s not like the Bengals are going to actually use that money. Ryan Finley is now the backup quarterback and he’s dog shit. Finley completed 47 percent of his attempts in 3 starts last year. I don’t get it. Good luck to Joe Burrow because he is going to have to overcome a lot to be successful.
Wouldn’t you want to have Joe Burrow learn from Andy Dalton? This is why the Bengals are one of the biggest joke franchises in the NFL. Dalton, 32, at minimum provided a quality backup option. Why wouldn’t Cincinnati wait for a trade? The Panthers got a 5th round pick for Kyle Allen. There’s bound to be a camp injury.
Now we have to try to guess where Dalton will land. The Patriots are an obvious landing spot. Who knows with them. Bill Belichick has clearly lost his mind when it comes to roster construction. Maybe the Steelers work but Kevin Colbert has convinced himself Mason Rudolph can play. Who knows what’s next for Dalton. All that is clear is that there’s never been a surplus of quarterbacks like this before in NFL history.
