Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Bengals released Andy Dalton less than a week after the 2020 NFL Draft. Here are five new NFL teams for the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
Just when we thought the Cincinnati Bengals were going to keep Andy Dalton around for one more year to serve as Joe Burrow‘s mentor, Cincinnati surprised us all and cut one of the greatest quarterbacks in franchise history less than a week after the 2020 NFL Draft. Dalton had spent his entire nine-year NFL career out of TCU with the Bengals.
The former second-round pick from the 2011 NFL Draft led the Bengals to the AFC playoffs in each of his first five seasons out of TCU. He formed one of the greatest quarterback/wide receiver tandems in NFL history with fellow draft classmate A.J. Green. While Green will be a Pro Football Hall of Famer one day, the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback will be looking for a new team.
Dalton is entering his age-32 season and won’t turn 33-years-old until late October. Though he is coming off four-straight losing seasons, Dalton has won at least 10 games four times in his NFL career. His days as a franchise quarterback may be over, but he can still be a valuable stop-gap starter for the rest of his career. Somebody will want to sign him here very soon.
Here are five new teams that could be good landing spots for Dalton entering the 2020 campaign.
5
Denver Broncos
AFC West
The Denver Broncos are an interesting fit for a few reasons. While they seem to have their quarterback of the future in Drew Lock, the former second-round pick out of Missouri is more unproven at the professional level than he is not. Though he has a lot of promise, the Broncos need more security backing him up with a quarterback we know that can win games.
Denver should be a playoff team this season, as the Broncos now have the offensive firepower to hang with its always great defense. Second-year head coach Vic Fangio has assembled a hell of a staff in Denver, featuring Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Munchak as his offensive line coach and bringing over former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur to be the offensive coordinator.
These are two former offensive-minded NFL head coaches and both will ensure that quarterback play will be stupendous in Denver. Munchak will make sure the signal-caller stays upright and has a reliable running game to lean on. By adding Shurmur, the Broncos just landed one of the best offensive coordinators in football. Though too passive to be a head coach, he’ll do wonders here.
So the idea for Dalton to go to the Broncos is to replace Joe Flacco in the quarterback room. Dalton’s skill set hasn’t depreciated as rapidly as Flacco’s has. If Lock falters at any point in the season, the Broncos can feel confident about giving the ball to Dalton and get back to contending for a playoff spot. At the very worst, Dalton will serve as a great mentor to Lock in 2020.