The Cincinnati Bengals‘ front office executives are likely asking themselves the same question: “Why did we sign Andy Dalton to a six-year contract worth $115 million?”
In Dalton’s defense, the veteran quarterback did have a case of the flu that has been sweeping through the team as of late. However, illness shouldn’t be used as a big excuse here because it almost cost the Bengals the game. The Bengals hung on for a 14-13 win over the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite Dalton’s weaknesses at quarterback. He only threw for 176 yards in the victory, but the Buccaneers defense sacked him twice and picked him off three times.
Needless to say, this is not the Dalton the Bengals hoped would lead the team to the promised land.
Cincinnati jumped off to a strong start this year and was even mentioned in top circles as an AFC candidate for the Super Bowl. No one is looking at the Bengals as a legitimate championship team anymore. Defenders will point to the team’s three-game winning streak and its 8-3-1 record. The Bengals are in first place — why are people crying about Dalton?
Here’s why. Dalton has been over 300 yards just twice this season. He has only thrown 12 touchdown passes. Compare that to 10 interceptions, and you can see why Dalton hasn’t been as effective. The Cleveland Browns even held Dalton to 86 yards in a loss earlier this year.
Eventually, Cincinnati will run into a team that will shut down Dalton and pretty much kill the entire offense. From there, the Bengals will head to the sidelines for another year and wonder what happened.
Dalton doesn’t start collecting on that contract until next year. He will have base salaries over $10 million a year from 2016-2020. If his numbers don’t improve dramatically, that contract will look like an albatross around Cincinnati’s neck.
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