Cincinnati Bengals Look To Extend Dalton

Jan 5, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) is tackled by San Diego Chargers linebacker Jarret Johnson (96) during the 2013 AFC wild card playoff football game at Paul Brown Stadium. The Chargers defeated the Bengals 27-10. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals and the quarterback Andy Dalton have begun discussions to keep Dalton in a Bengals jersey for the foreseeable future. Currently Dalton is still playing out his rookie contract.

As a second round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft Andy Dalton has not garnered the money that wide receiver AJ Green did in his rookie contract. Green was the first round pick in the 2011 Draft for the Bengals, he like Dalton is still playing on his rookie contract although the Bengals did pick up his option. Currently Dalton is slated to make $1.7M this season the final year of a four year $5.2M rookie contract.

Andy Dalton told reporters on Monday that he believes he is the face of the franchise. When asked if he thought he was Dalton responded with a quick “I do.” That is exactly what you want your quarterback to say, you want someone with confidence. Although the fans may tend to disagree with Dalton.

With the NFL being a complete quarterback league now a number of quarterbacks have gotten gigantic deals over the past few years. Joe Flacco, the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens turned a mediocre/decent career start into a 6yr-$120M deal after winning the Super Bowl. Andy Dalton likely won’t win the Super Bowl next season but that won’t stop him from getting a relatively large deal.

According to ESPN and a number of other analyst Dalton could fetch around $15M a season on his new deal. Compare that to this season and that is an astronomical jump in salary for the TCU product.

Dalton has struggled at times as the Bengals starting quarterback. In his first three seasons in the NFL Dalton has taken the Bengals to the playoffs all three seasons. In each season Dalton and the Bengals have been one and done, losing all three playoff games. A great regular season is wonderful, winning in the playoffs though is all that matters.

The Bengals will in all likelihood extend Dalton and keep him in Cincinnati for another 5 seasons. The terms though, those will be interesting to see.