Bengals take notice of Andy Dalton's urgency; Won't matter until playoffs

The biggest season of Andy Dalton's NFL career might just be this coming one. As of now, Dalton has just one year remaining on his rookie contract, as he seeks a long-term deal that boosts hist pay from under $1 million, to somewhere in the $13-18 million range.

Hue Jackson has already stated Dalton needs to become great for the Bengals to improve, and so far, so good in spring workouts.

4) Bengals have noticed heightened urgency from Andy Dalton this spring. Mechanically, has worked on becoming more compact with Hue Jackson.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 25, 2014

It's good to hear that Dalton has clearly made it as point to improve this offseason to the point his coaches and teammates have taken notice.

"He wants to be great. He's not interested in being good anymore," Jackson said. "Good has gotten us three playoff appearances with no wins. I think he wants to be great and he's working at it. That's all you can hope for at this point."

However, none of it matters if this doesn't translate to better performance on the field. Ultimately, it won't matter if the Bengals win 9 games or 11 games in the regular season, as a 1-and-done playoff trip negates that.

People don't see the 30 career wins Dalton has. They see his 0-3 career record in the playoffs.

It's time for Dalton to play to his potential in the postseason, and until he does so, there will be doubt he's a true franchise quarterback.