Update: The Bengals made the move to release Dalton official, putting out this statement on Thursday.
We have released QB Andy Dalton. Andy has not only been an outstanding player on the field, but a role model in the Cincinnati community for the last nine years.
Thank you for everything, Andy. pic.twitter.com/pBj9THIot5
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) April 30, 2020
“Andy will always hold a special place with this franchise, and I know that he holds a special place in my heart,” said team president Mike Brown. “This is a hard day for our club because we know and appreciate what a consummate professional Andy has always been. We respect and appreciate Andy, and we thank him.”
According to Adam Schefter, the Bengals are releasing QB Andy Dalton.
This doesn’t come as a big surprise, as Cincinnati drafted Dalton’s successor, QB Joe Burrow, No. 1 overall last week.
There had been some talk that the Bengals were open to keeping Dalton as a backup, but his $17.5 million cap figure likely made that prohibitive.
It also made trading Dalton difficult, so in the end a release was best for both parties.
According to Over the Cap, releasing Dalton frees up $17.7 million in cap space for Cincinnati.
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 stood 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. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 27 receiver out of 37 qualifying players.
We’ll have more on Dalton as the news is available.
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