The first and arguably second waves of free agency have come and gone, and most every team has brought in their new starting quarterback. With the music stopping the highest-profile guys without a job are Jameis Winston, who we've discussed at length, and Cam Newton (who might be unsigned for medical reasons, and the challenges in performing physicals right now). Next in line is Andy Dalton.
Dalton isn't a free agent, but the Bengals -- who will select a quarterback atop the draft -- have allowed him to seek a trade. Evidently that didn't pan out, with teams signing Tom Brady and Philip Rivers, and trading for Nick Foles. The Chargers, at least for now, are apparently content with Tyrod Taylor behind center. The Patriots, also for now, will send out either Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer. Dalton is just 32 years old, but it looks as if teams have already decided he's not starting material.
Part of it is that Dalton isn't playing at the level he was earlier in his career. He comes off his career-worst season in several key areas: touchdowns, yards per attempt and passer rating. He also completed under 60 percent of his passes -- that's his lowest total since his rookie season. Not every quarterback is effective until his late 30s; maybe Dalton's decline has come a little younger than some other veteran passers.
In the table, sorted by passer rating, categories where Dalton set career lows last year are in bold.
| ANDY DALTON CAREER PASSING NUMBERS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | G | Att | Comp | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rate |
| 2015 | 13 | 386 | 255 | 66.1 | 3,250 | 8.4 | 25 | 7 | 106.2 |
| 2016 | 16 | 563 | 364 | 64.7 | 4,206 | 7.5 | 18 | 8 | 91.8 |
| 2018 | 11 | 365 | 226 | 61.9 | 2,566 | 7.0 | 21 | 11 | 89.6 |
| 2013 | 16 | 586 | 363 | 61.9 | 4,293 | 7.3 | 33 | 20 | 88.8 |
| 2012 | 16 | 528 | 329 | 62.3 | 3,669 | 6.9 | 27 | 16 | 87.4 |
| 2017 | 16 | 496 | 297 | 59.9 | 3,320 | 6.7 | 25 | 12 | 86.6 |
| 2014 | 16 | 481 | 309 | 64.2 | 3,398 | 7.1 | 19 | 17 | 83.5 |
| 2011 | 16 | 516 | 300 | 58.1 | 3,398 | 6.6 | 20 | 13 | 80.4 |
| 2019 | 13 | 528 | 314 | 59.5 | 3,494 | 6.6 | 16 | 14 | 78.3 |
Sure, the talent around him isn't as good as it once was, especially with A.J. Green not playing last season. That's a factor. But there's some evidence there that his days as anything more than a veteran backup are behind him.
It's possible the Chargers, Patriots or some other team will kick the tires eventually. Maybe the Bengals' price is too high right now. Maybe it won't be until after the NFL Draft that a team is willing to jump.
Either way, Dalton's days of fantasy relevance are probably over. Best-case scenario for him is he'll be a bridge quarterback somewhere, giving a team a mediocre level of play for a year until they too look to the draft for a franchise guy, just like the Bengals are doing.
--Andy Richardson