On Saturday (5/2), Cowboys Nation got the news that former Cincinnati Bengals QB Andy Dalton was returning to Texas with a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys.
The move was major and has a lot of people talking about the current QB situation going on in big D. Although the speculation says that Dalton is only signed as a back-up and a “just in case” quarterback, it is hard to ignore the fact that Dak Prescott has not gotten his wanted contract yet. And in the opinion of many, and despite the records and statistics, Andy Dalton is not a quarterback that would be regularly signed as a backup.
It’s hard to believe a quarterback, who not too long ago went 8-0, would now be QB-2.
In reality, Dalton’s work in the NFL has been nothing for shame. He’s been in this league for nine seasons and had some pretty good postseason years. It wasn’t until his winning seasons came to an end in 2015 after going 6-9-1.
This last season was the worst for Dalton yet. Regardless of how bad the past 5 years have been, Dalton still has talent. His career stats include:
- 2,757 completed passes
- 118 interceptions
- 31, 594 passing yards
- A 70-61-2 career record
- 24 game-winning drives
It’s good and bad, but it’d be a little ridiculous to say Dalton is terrible.
It is no secret that Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ front office had a different eye of where Prescott’s contract should be. Prescott went looking for a bigger contract than the given $33 million, but instead got met with a franchise tag. With the deadline coming up on July 15, it is uncertain where the contract talks with Prescott will end.
As for a talk about money, Dalton received a $7 million-dollar deal with $3 million guaranteed. Not a bad transaction with Dalton: getting to come back to your home team after getting replaced by a number 1 draft pick while getting a decent deal.
This signing has been a real shock to Dallas fans because it gives some unintentional significance to our quarterback position. There’s no telling what could happen during the rest of this offseason, but Dalton puts a confusing dent in it. If this really is just a chance at QB depth, then there is not an issue that should be discussed.
It’s not for certain if there is a message within the signing of Andy Dalton, but knowing Jerry Jones, you never know.
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