The Dallas Cowboys chose to sign Andy Dalton late last week, with the purpose to have him serve as the backup to Dak Prescott. Marvin Lewis, Dalton's former head coach, opened up on why Dalton decided to sign with the Cowboys when talking with CBS Sports' Zach Gelb.

“I’m excited [for] him for a new beginning … He took the opportunity with the Cowboys. It gives him opportunity with a new staff and with Mike McCarthy and what they’re doing on offense with Kellen [Moore], to go in there and understand his role, to be the backup to Dak, to be supportive if something happens with Dak, he goes in there and they don’t want to skip a beat. I think he’s capable of doing that. So it sets himself up for another opportunity down the road with another club.”

With the current state of the quarterback position, there weren't many starting jobs available for Dalton upon his release from the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Of course, Lewis was the one who got an opportunity to coach Dalton in Cincinnati from 2011-2018. But after the 2018 season, Lewis was fired from the Bengals after 16 seasons as the team's head coach. Even though he was let go, Lewis still has a connection with his former players — including Dalton.

For Dalton, he is seemingly going to be the backup to Prescott heading into the 2020 season. But if things go awry, Dalton could get an opportunity to start in Prescott's place. In all likeliness, Dalton's decision to sign with Dallas is mainly to give him a chance to wait until next offseason to find another starting job.