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The Bengals have signed Central Connecticut State QB Jake Dolegala as an undrafted free agent.
Central Connecticut State QB Jake Dolegala, a Western New York native, has agreed to a free agent contract with the #Bengals. @TheBuffaloNews
— Jason Wolf (@JasonWolf) April 27, 2019
Before the NFL Draft, the Bengals reportedly brought in just two quarterbacks for pre-draft visits.
One was Ryan Finley, one was Dolegala. Both are now Bengals.
Dolegala was unlikely to get drafted, but the Bengals made sense as a potential fit. Along with Finley, he’ll enter a quarterback room with just Jeff Driskel and Brad Kaaya as the backups to Andy Dalton.
At Central Connecticut State, Dolegala threw for 48 touchdowns and 8,129 passing yards in his four-year career. Standing at nearly 6-7 and 242 pounds, Dolegala has a surprising amount of mobility to him and a compact throwing motion.
Dolegala will compete in training camp to potentially make the practice squad, but this signing almost didn’t even happen. Per Tim Graham, Dolegala was ready to sign with the Colts until the Colts signed Chad Kelly instead.
After talking with the Colts about signing as an undrafted free agent, Jake Dolegala's camp told the Colts were pulling out because they were going to sign Chad Kelly.
— Tim Graham (@ByTimGraham) April 28, 2019
Now, the Bengals have acquired the two quarterbacks they were interested in the most.