Andy Dalton was released by the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this week and his future in the NFL remains uncertain. Following his release from the Bengals, Marvin Lewis — Dalton's former head coach — spoke about the veteran quarterback.
“He’s extremely smart,” Lewis said, via ProFootballTalk, “prepared, ready to go. By lunchtime on Tuesday, he had the opponent down pat. He’ll be a good aide for a young guy and if something happens, he’ll be ready to go.”
From 2011-2019, Dalton was the starting quarterback in Cincinnati, leading the team to the postseason in his first four seasons. However, a shaky season in 2019 and the selection of Joe Burrow with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft sealed Dalton's fate with the Bengals.
Upon his release, there has been much speculation on where Dalton could sign this offseason. Among the teams, the Jacksonville Jaguars seem like an ideal fit due to his prior experience with Jay Gruden — Jacksonville's new offensive coordinator. Lewis pointed out that Gruden did a remarkable job coaching Dalton in Cincinnati.
“Jay [Gruden] did a tremendous job of building the offense through Andy,” Lewis said of his former offensive coordinator in Cincinnati, who would go on to become the head coach in Washington and who now is offensive coordinator in Jacksonville. “And Andy did a great job of taking care of the football and not getting ahead of himself.”
In all likeliness, Dalton is probably going to have to take a similar approach as Jameis Winston and accept a backup role in 2020. While some people believe Dalton isn't worth signing, Lewis believes he could be a valuable addition to any team.
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