Bengals bench Andy Dalton for Ryan Finley

The Bengals have finally done the unthinkable (at least based on their ‘logic’): They just benched Andy Dalton in favor of Ryan Finley, according to Tom Pelissero.

And this is on Dalton’s birthday.

The team has since confirmed the news.

This is frankly one of the most shocking moves I can remember the Bengals ever making under Mike Brown. After all, this is an owner who stuck with Marvin Lewis for longer than Carson Palmer was in the NFL, not to mention he’s vehemently against benching/cutting/trading players who’ve brought him success, especially a guy like Dalton who did help the Bengals make five-straight playoff berths.

And I doubt Zac Taylor chose to give up on Dalton just eight games into his first season as a head coach, not to mention I doubt Brown would have let him unless he signed off on it. So either Mike and/or the rest of the front office made this move, which may signal Mike has given up some of his control to Katie Blackburn and Duke Tobin to make decisions like this.

Either way, Dalton is benched, which ‘should’ signal the end of his tenure in Cincinnati. The question is will the Bengals keep him past the trade deadline, as they’ve obviously made this decision prior to today’s 4pm EST deadline to trade players.

Even though Dalton has been benched, you have to imagine there are teams who would like to have him on their roster, even if it is as a glorified backup for a Super Bowl contender.

So...what are your thoughts on the move?