According to Paul Dehner Jr of The Athletic, the Bears have been in contact with the Bengals about a potential trade for QB Andy Dalton.
- Earlier in the week, an NFL GM told Lindsay Jones that Dalton is an intriguing quarterback option who could command a second or third-round pick in trade compensation.
- Ben Allbright of Pro Football Network reported yesterday that sources have told him the Bears and Bengals have had discussions about Dalton. Allbright added that Chicago was interested in both Dalton and Derek Carr, but if another quarterback is brought in, Mitchell Trubisky would still enter training camp as the starter.
The expectation has been for some time now that the Bengals will use the No. 1 overall pick on LSU QB Joe Burrow and look to move Dalton this offseason.
Chicago hired former Bengals OC Bill Lazor last month, so there’s a clear tie to Dalton.
A few weeks ago, Ian Rapoport mentioned that the Bengals plan to work with Dalton to facilitate a trade this offseason.
The Patriots have also been tossed out as speculative landing spot for Dalton, depending on what transpires with Tom Brady.
The veteran made it clear when he was benched last season that he would have preferred to have been traded to a team that gave him a chance to start. It appears that’s what the Bengals will try to do now.
Dalton, 32, is a former second-round pick of the Bengals back in 2011. He’s currently entering the final year of his seven-year, $97.09 million contract, which includes $17 million guaranteed.
Dalton stands to make a base salary of $17.5 million in 2020.
In 2019, Dalton appeared in 13 games for the Bengals and threw for 3,494 yards while completing 59.5 percent of his passes to go along with 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
We’ll have more on Dalton as the news is available.
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