The New Orleans Saints just added a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback to the roster. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN (per CBS Sports), the Saints have signed Andy Dalton to a one-year, $6 million contract that includes $3 million guaranteed. This comes after the Saints showed interest in trading for Deshaun Watson who is now a member of the Cleveland Browns. This also comes after the Saints signed Jameis Winston to a two-year, $28 million contract last week. Dalton will likely be the backup for Winston in 2022.
Last year, Dalton played for the Chicago Bears and played in eight games with six starts. In those six starts, Dalton posted a 3-3 record and completed 63.1% of his passes with 1,515 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was competing with Justin Fields, a top quarterback prospect the Bears drafted in the first round last year.
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“The thing is, there’s so much excitement with Justin, deservedly so,” Dalton told reporters before the start of the 2021 season, per Heavy.com. “He’s a first-round pick, and just with everything that’s gone on here, there’s a lot of excitement with it. But I didn’t feel like there wasn’t excitement for me, either. I think for us, as long as we go out and operate like we know we can do, I think the fans will be excited when we score lots of touchdowns this year.”
In 2020, Dalton was with the Dallas Cowboys and played in 11 games with nine starts. He won four of his nine starts while completing 65% of his passes for 2,170 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. From 2011 to 2019, Dalton was the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2011, 2014 and 2016 while leading the team to the postseason from 2011 to 2015. In his nine seasons with the Bengals, Dalton threw for 31,594 yards and 204 touchdowns. He left the Bengals second on the all-time list in passing yards and first in passing touchdowns.
The Saints are looking to get back on track after missing the playoffs last year. 2021 was the first season since 2005 that Drew Brees wasn’t under center. The legendary quarterback retired after the 2020 season, and the Saints went with Winston as the starter before he went down with a torn ACL. This season, the Saints have a new head coach in Dennis Allen as Sean Payton resigned from the team at the end of the 2021 season.
