Andy Dalton, come on down!
The Carolina Panthers have a new head coach in 2024. Hired because of how well he did in the Baker Mayfield reclamation project in Tampa Bay, Dave Canales has apparently already seen enough out of Bryce Young. The 2023 No. 1 overall selection out of Alabama, who the franchise traded their 2024 first-round pick and a star receiver away in order to draft, is now out. Dalton is in.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1835737829923491918
Dalton, the former starter in Cincinnati with the Bengals, was an injury fill-in for the Cowboys back in 2020 when starter Dak Prescott went out with a horrific leg injury after just five starts. Dalton led the Cowboys to a 4-5 record, and famously inspired very little loyalty from his troops in Dallas.
Dalton was absolutely shredded on a slide in a game against Washington in late October that season with a diabolical hit to the head. Not a single teammate raised much of a fuss with the opposition over the hit.
https://twitter.com/jonmachota/status/1320442270676668417
When Dalton was signed in the 2020 offseason, stop reading if you’ve heard this before, some disgruntled fans thought he should replace Prescott as a starter. He threw for 2,170 yards with 14 touchdowns against 8 interceptions in the 10 games he was a legit part of.
Prescott of course signed the following offseason despite the injury to a deal worth $40 million a year.
That mantle has since been passed on to first Cooper Rush and then Trey Lance, and Prescott has since signed a new deal now worth $60 million a season.
Following 2020, Dalton spent a year with the New Orleans Saints (6-8) and another with the Chicago Bears (3-3) before latching on with the Panthers last year. He went 0-1 in 2023 and is now going to be the starter for the foreseeable future.
In his time with the Bengals he accrued a 70-61-2 record as a starter, being named to the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2011 and again in 2014 and 2016.
Pulling the plug just two games into the season for a second-year quarterback seems a bit premature for Canales. Dalton certainly gives the club a better chance to win, and a better chance to evaluate the rest of the team, but pretending like a roster missing talent at every level is a marginal starter away from competing seems a bit reactionary.