The Cincinnati Bengals selected Joe Burrow with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to replace Andy Dalton at quarterback. After being drafted by the Bengals, Burrow spoke about receiving a call from Dalton, welcoming him to Cincinnati.

“Yeah he reached out and just welcomed me to the team. I had met him before all this coronavirus craziness started, out in California I just went up and introduced myself. So we have met each other twice now I guess.

Over the months leading up to the draft, it was always assumed that the Bengals were going to take Burrow with the No. 1 pick. At the same time, it was expected that Dalton was going to be traded.

But after being unable to find a trade partner this offseason, Dalton remains on the roster. Even though he won't be the starter next season, the veteran signal-caller is doing his best in handling the situation with class. Calling Burrow to welcome to Cincinnati is a good start.

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From 2011-2019, Dalton was the starting quarterback of the Bengals, leading them to the playoffs in his first four seasons. Though, for the past five seasons, Dalton was unable to lead Cincinnati back to the postseason.

Given that, the Bengals knew a change needed to be made under center as they enter the second year with Zac Taylor as their head coach. Luckily for them, they were able to select Burrow, who is coming off a season where he threw 60 touchdowns at LSU.

Knowing that Dalton wants to start again, it likely hurts him deep inside that Burrow is coming in to replace him. At the least, Dalton isn't letting his desire to start get in the way of him being a good teammate to Burrow.