Bears, Bengals Inching Closer To Andy Dalton Trade
The Bears and Bengals are inching closer to an Andy Dalton trade, it would appear.
It is no secret that Cincinnati is preparing to move on from Dalton this offseason. With the first overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, the team is likely preparing to take Heisman-winning LSU star Joe Burrow to be their next quarterback of the future.
That makes Dalton the odd man out.
Along the same lines, Chicago currently finds itself in something of a precarious situation with its starting quarterback.
Coming off a strong 2018 performance that led many to speculate that he had finally found his way, Mitchell Trubisky regressed badly in 2019.
And as he declined, so did the Bears.
Despite continuing to have a terrific Khalil Mack-led defense, the team just could not compensate for how porous the offensive play was.
Trubisky’s numbers very in every statistical category last season, and there is no reason to assume they will bounce back up in 2020.
As such, it should come as no surprise that the Bears plan to have him on a tight leash.
According to The Athletic NFL insider Paul Dehner Jr., Chicago and Cincinnati have talked about a possible trade centering around Dalton.
Theoretically, Dalton would serve as insurance of sorts for Trubisky and someone who could push him to be better.
Moreover, a deal for Dalton would reunite him with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, with whom he enjoyed some success before getting injured.
The New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Chargers are all also considered potential suitors for Dalton if the Chicago situation does not work out.
Leading up to this point, the Bengals have maintained that as someone measure of gratitude for his service to the organization, Dalton will have some say in where they will ultimately send him.
Will that actually end up happening, though? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
