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Friday, word broke the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears have at least poked around the idea of an Andy Dalton trade.
And sometimes the most obvious thing is simply the best and ends up working out.
Dalton to the Bears makes too much sense on a ton of levels. Here’s a primer for such an idea.
Bengals get…
This feels like a second-round-pick-or-bust scenario. After all, the Bears have two second-round picks and nothing else in the 2020 draft worth noting.
While that’s a steep asking price for a veteran passer, the Bengals are in a safe position to ask it. If Chicago fancies itself a contender, why wouldn’t it pay up to go get the missing piece? And even if Dalton bombs in the Windy City, he’s a one-year rental.
The Bengals have the luxury of sweetening the pot too. They can offer to eat some of Dalton’s $17.7 million cap hit in the move, securing a second-round pick. If not, maybe they settle for picks in future drafts.
Dalton gets…
A shot at a Super Bowl.
No, seriously. The Bears are a year removed from winning 12 games and just went 8-8 in a division that sent two teams to the playoffs.
That team just got 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions from Mitchell Trubisky. Yet, Dalton would get to work with an offensive mind in Matt Nagy and a great-looking supporting cast headed up by David Montogomery, Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller. Don’t forget the Khalil Mack-led defense.
If the Bengals want to do right by Dalton, shipping him to this situation certainly fits the bill.
Bears win too…
This all applies to the Bears too. Coughing up a second-round pick or whatever they end up agreeing to — and perhaps going on to contend — would be getting off lightly for taking Trubisky over…Patrick Mahomes.
A quality quarterback changes everything and besides the most important position of all, the Bears look good.
The hiccup…
The quarterback market this year could cause the Bengals some problems. We’re talking about these potential free agents, if not trade candidates:
- Tom Brady
- Drew Brees
- Dak Prescott
- Philip Rivers
- Teddy Bridgewater
- Jameis Winston
- Marcus Mariota
- Ryan Tannehill
- Cam Newton
If Chicago wants to call Cincinnati’s bluff that it won’t just up and cut Dalton to clear his cap hit, it can comfortably do so and still get an upgrade at the position. The Bengals need to decide quickly how much they want to ask for or risk getting nothing at all.
Does it happen?
Maybe? The Bengals have very clearly been signaling through the media that they’re open for business on the Dalton front. Duke Tobin’s “hey whoa, we’d keep Dalton next year” stance made that pretty clear. They’d like to get something of value from Dalton’s departure but risk not playing ball well enough (they don’t do this often). As long as Cincinnati “settles” for any sort of compensation at all, this one could very well happen. It’s safe to presume the two sides could have laid out some groundwork while in Indianapolis this week.
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