Of the possible Andy Dalton trade partners for the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason, the Chicago Bears seem to make the most sense.
The initial work on such a deal might be slowly getting underway at the scouting combine this week.
Tucked into a great, wide-sweeping breakdown of Cincinnati’s quarterback position, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic notes the Bears and Bengals have been in contact:
“The first and most obvious is the Bears, who have been in touch with the Bengals on the topic. If looking to give ‘competition’ to Mitch Trubisky, Dalton would be just that. His contract is a decent number, but it’s digestible when you have Trubisky still on a rookie deal.”
Chicago indeed makes sense after Mitchell Trubisky again struggled to trend upward after the Bears spent big assets to draft him.
But as we’ve noted, the Bengals shouldn’t hold out for too long on potential return via trade. This offseason is an anomaly in how rich the quarterback market appears to be. If the Bengals wait too long, they might have to simply end up cutting Dalton.
Those Bears have two second-round picks this year and nothing else major to offer in this year’s draft. New England — given the relationship between Mike Brown and Bill Belichick — makes sense as a potential Dalton trade partner too, should the unthinkable happen and Tom Brady leaves Foxboro.
Both Chicago and New England would enable Bengals brass to do right by Dalton in shipping him to a potential contender looking for a veteran quarterback to lead the charge.
