Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was benched in favor of rookie Ryan Finley on Tuesday, just ahead of the NFL trade deadline.

Talk about poor timing.

Dalton was not only naturally unhappy about the Bengals' decision to move on from him, but he is also not thrilled with the fact that Cincinnati didn't even really give him an opportunity to seek employment elsewhere.

Per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Dalton said that his agent tried to facilitate a trade before the deadline expired, but due to the time crunch, the Bengals were unable to move the veteran.

While no one knows for sure if the Bengals would have been able to trade Dalton if they would have given him an earlier heads up about his benching, it certainly stands to reason that they would have had a better chance of re-homing him had they followed that procedure.

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Through eight starts this season, Dalton has thrown for 2,252 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions while completing 60.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 79.4, the worst all-around statistical output of his career.

The 32-year-old, who played his collegiate football at TCU, was originally selected by Cincinnati in the second round (35th pick overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.

He has been the Bengals' starting quarterback ever since, making three Pro Bowl appearances during his time at the helm.

However, Dalton was never able to put Cincinnati over the top, and with the Bengals currently an NFL-worst 0-8, Zac Taylor and Co. felt it was time to make a change.