Andy Dalton is now looking for a new NFL team. Just one week after the Cincinnati Bengals selected Joe Burrow No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft, the team released Dalton, who has been the starting quarterback since 2011, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. With the move, it’s very likely Burrow will be the starting quarterback once the 2020 season kicks off.
This is not a big surprise as Dalton was entering the final year of his contract, and there were reports of him being cut or traded before the team drafted Burrow. Last year, Dalton was benched midway through the season due to the team starting the season 0-8. When he was benched, Dalton called out the team for the timing of the decision because it happened just hours before the trade deadline.
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“I think that’s an unfortunate thing,” Dalton said to reporters in October, via CBS Sports. “It happened three hours before the trade deadline. If [coach Zac Taylor] was thinking about it, at least let us try to see if I could end up somewhere else or at least see if there was interest in possibly getting traded at that point. The way it was all handled, there wasn’t enough time to even have that happen.”
Dalton ended up starting 13 games last season and finished with 3,494 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions while winning just two games. In his nine seasons with the Bengals, Dalton threw for 31,594 yards, 204 touchdowns, and 118 interceptions in 133 games. Dalton leaves Cincinnati first in franchise history in touchdown passes and second in passing yards. He led the Bengals to the playoffs from 2011 to 2015, losing in the wild-card round each year. The Bengals have not won a playoff game since 1991.
Burrow comes to the Bengals after posting the best season for a quarterback in college football history. The former LSU signal-caller threw 60 touchdowns, an FBS record, and he won the Heisman Trophy while leading the Tigers to the national championship. “That’s exactly how I expect to do it as well,” Burrow said during a teleconference with local reporters when talking about being the starting QB for the Bengals this year. “I’m going to come in and compete and try to be the best player I can be.”
