Andy Dalton Signs with the Dallas Cowboys

After less than a week on the market Andy Dalton has found his new home close to his old home in Dallas according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Conveniently enough for Andy, he already owns a home in Dallas so the commute to work won’t be bad.

Shortly after drafting Joe Burrow it seemed inevitable that the Bengals were going to move on from Andy Dalton. There was speculation about Dalton staying for a year to mentor Burrow. But the Bengals are comfortable with Burrow starting day one and Ryan Finley being the team’s back up. Dalton was 70-61-2 during his time in Cincinnati.

He has the second-most passing yards in Bengals history with 31,594 yards and leads the franchise in touchdowns with 204. He led the Bengals to the playoffs in five straight years from 2011-15, playing in four playoff games (missed 2015 due to injury) and losing all four. Since then Dalton and the Bengals had a bumpy road that led them to a 2-14 record in 2020.

Why Dallas made this signing

Contract negotiations have not gone well between The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott

Franchise quarterback Dak Prescott had received the franchise tag from Dallas for $31.4 million. Even before this Dallas had been trying to negotiate a long term deal with Prescott, but both parties have not seemed to make much progress or get on the same page. It has gotten to the point where Prescott skipped Dallas’ offseason program. Now, Mike McCarthy will not comment on whether Prescott was there or not but it was safe to say that he wasn’t there.

Like most players who hold out under the franchise tag, Prescott will likely hold out from all activity until there is a resolution. This does not go well for Dallas considering they are expected to be contenders in the NFC this season.

If Prescott were to hold out and miss playing time the Cowboys would have to rely on Cooper Rush, an inexperienced quarterback who might be able to get this team to the playoffs if he was the full-time starter. This is where Dalton comes in.

Andy Dalton immediately makes a case for the being the leagues best back up quarterbacks

Dalton has enough experience on playoff teams where if worst comes to worst can be the Cowboys starting quarterback for an extended period of time and unleash a large part of the potential of this offense, likely not to the extent that Prescott would, but enough to keep the Cowboys in the playoff picture.

Dalton is not only an insurance policy, but leverage in the Prescott negotiations. After numerous attempts to intimidate Prescott into signing the contracts they have offered him, this is there most intimidating threat. The Cowboys have spread rumors throughout the draft that they were interested in taking a quarterback early and made a big deal about interviewing Jalen Hurts. The Cowboys even went on and posted that they were interviewing Hurts all over their social media to try and rial up Prescott, and it didn’t work.

The Red Rifle is being paid like a backup and would be a high end back up if Prescott returns. But is capable of being the team’s starter, and the Cowboys want Prescott to know that they are prepared and that he doesn’t have all the leverage.