Andy Dalton had multiple suitors before joining the Bears. Both the Broncos and 49ers expressed interest in the veteran quarterback before he signed with Chicago, writes Dan Pompei of The Athletic.
Dalton ultimately inked a one-year, $10MM deal with the Bears, a contract the other reported suitors were unwilling to match. Per Pompei, the Bears also promised the 33-year-old that he’d have the inside track at the starting gig, a commitment that neither the Broncos nor 49ers could offer.
Still, Denver’s interest in Dalton isn’t that surprising, as the organization has seemingly been connected to every available quarterback (except, reportedly, Sam Darnold). The team made an offer for Matthew Stafford, and they were planning to pursue Deshaun Watson before his off-field conduct began to surface. Dalton presumably would have competed with Drew Lock, the league-leader in interceptions this past season, for the starting gig.
The 49ers’ interest is more of a surprise, and it could be a bit telling. San Francisco has since traded for the third-overall pick, and considering the draft capital that they surrendered, they’ll presumably select a rookie quarterback at that spot. The front office has since committed to incumbent Jimmy Garoppolo as their starter in 2021 and their stopgap until the rookie QB is ready to step in, and it sounds like the veteran has yet to hit the trade block. The 49ers’ interest in Dalton could be a sign that the team was indeed considering trades for Garoppolo, as three (somewhat) starting-caliber quarterbacks would have been redundant.
If the 49ers sign Dalton, I could look at it two ways:
-Jimmy is traded, they draft a QB, Dalton starts and mentors their rookie QB before eventually relinquishing the starting job
-they keep Jimmy, draft Chase or someone else like Sewell, use Dalton as a vet back-up in case Jimmy gets hurt (big possibility considering his history)
Their massive trade-up doesn’t make a lot of sense to me either way, even if they draft a QB.
The 49er’s can’t sign Dalton
I think he meant “signed.” They still, apparently, plan to draft a QB. You make that move to draft a QB. I hope Atlanta decides it wants Ryan’s successor and offers the Jets a deal to jump over the Niners. I think Sewell or Pitts would be more useful to the Jets than the second choice QB after Lawrence.
Yes, sorry, I meant signed. I must have written half of that without remembering that he already signed with the Bears!
This article is about how they were interested in signing him and I’m just speculating on what that would have meant.
This was just info leaked by the Bears to try and stop the fans from tearing the front office and ownership apart, the bears leak constant info like this to try and make themselves look less dumb, all types of reporters talked about how sooooo many teams were tryin to trade up for Mitch and it was found out later that literally no team in the league was doing that, Pace is just an idiot whose should be a mid round scout only
Exactly! Let’s take an average QB at best, who has since become a slightly above average back up QB, and turn him into the face of your franchise. For all the bad performances that Mitch Trubisky had, he gave us Bears fans one thing… false hope at one day being a contender again.
Either would have been interesting, but especially the 9ers to me. Dalton looks to have advanced beyond the days of carrying teams-in an offense like San Fran’s he would have had the coach to lean on heavily for direction. He would make certain checks mostly and execute the calls made by Shanahan.
Denver I think would have involved a lot more responsibility, especially with such a young team and an offensive staff that has only been there a year (with poor results to their credit and a new regime above them). Dalton could have been what Denver needed, who knows, but his prior experience as a starter and recent handling of stepping in for Prescott could have been very valuable for the 9ers-and given them leeway if they decided to deal Garrappolo.
The only question now is what Chicago does if Dalton does well there. Is the guy they try to make a run with, or is he just a bridge for a draftee?
I’m okay with Daulton but surround him with talent no Trading up work with what you got.