Andy Dalton to Saints; Bengals could face him for third straight season

The quarterback carousel has been whirling at a neck-breaking pace with big moves like Tom Brady coming out of retirement and Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson both being traded among other moves.

Still, the backup quarterback market is still solidifying before the NFL Draft next month. A familiar face to Cincinnati Bengals fans has found yet another new home for the 2022 season.

Andy Dalton will be joining the New Orleans Saints on a one-year contract after the team signed Jameis Winston to a two-year $28 million deal with $15 million guaranteed. That is to say that clearly the idea is to have Dalton as the backup quarterback.

This news also followed new Saints’ head coach Dennis Allen announcing that Taysom Hill will be focusing on playing tight end next season after trying to play quarterback while dabbling as a running and receiving threat the past couple of seasons under Sean Payton. This left a pretty big void at backup quarterback that Dalton fits very nicely in.

Dalton is still at or near the top of most of Cincinnati all-time passing stats. He has the most completions and touchdowns while falling second to Ken Anderson in passing yards over a career. He won 70 games for the Bengals and led them to five straight playoff appearances after being drafted in 2011. Unfortunately, he and the team infamously never were able to get over that playoff hump.

Another interesting note is that since Dalton was released by the Bengals prior to the 2020 season, he has played his former team each season. In 2020, he was replacing an injured Dak Prescott on the Dallas Cowboys, and last season he started the Week 2 game Cincinnati faced off against the Chicago Bears. Dalton left that game with an injury which opened the door for rookie quarterback Justin Fields to get his first extended action.

The Bengals are scheduled to take on the Saints in New Orleans. Could Dalton make it three years in a row?