It’s very odd to think that one of the biggest offseason quarterback dominoes that is going to fall is an eventual trade of Andy Dalton. There is no reason for Dalton and his $17 million dollar cap hit to stay in Cincinnati if the Bengals are going to draft Joe Burrow — and they are definitely taking the Heisman winner and national champion with the first pick.
There will be suitors of Dalton. For all the jokes about Dalton as a quarterback, the Dalton line — copyrighted by Around the NFL podcast — and the Bengals playoff record with Dalton under center, he’s a decent quarterback. He can’t win you a Super Bowl unless you have a ton of talent surrounding him, but he’s better than a lot of other options. If Ryan Tannehill can have a comeback season where the Titans are thinking about keeping the former Dolphins quarterback instead of making a run at Tom Brady, then anything is possible for Dalton.
The Bengals probably aren’t going to outright release him either since his $17 million cap hit is actually a pretty good number. Some team will be interested. Let’s take a guess at which ones may make the call.