National Football League

Audible in New England?

Updated Jul. 17, 2020 8:10 p.m. ET

The Cincinnati Bengals released long-time quarterback Andy Dalton on Thursday morning.

You know what that means...

With the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals selected LSU superstar quarterback Joe Burrow to lead the franchise into the future.

With the move, it was presumed that the Bengals would either trade or release 9-year starter Andy Dalton.

Dalton, 32, arrived in Cincinnati in 2011. He led the Bengals to the playoffs each of his first five years as a starter and he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2011, 2014 and 2016.

However, Dalton never won a playoff game in a Bengals uniform and Cincinnati hasn't made a playoff appearance since 2015, which triggered the Cincinnati front office to change course at the QB position.

Now, Dalton joins the free agent market, and par for the course for this offseason, New England has entered the conversation – well, at least for the pundits.

Is Dalton a better option than current New England QB Jarrett Stidham? Is Dalton a better option for the Patriots than fellow free agent quarterback Cam Newton?

Shannon Sharpe thinks that Dalton would immediately give the Patriots an upgrade at quarterback and that both sides would benefit if he landed in New England.

"If I'm Andy Dalton, that would be one of my first priorities, to try to get to [New England]. I know they're going to win and I'll get well-coached ... I believe Andy Dalton is better than anything they have on their team currently."

Dalton is certainly more experienced than any quarterback currently in New England, including presumed starter Stidham.

In his nine professional seasons, Dalton has only missed 11 starts. He owns a regular season record of 70-61-2, and in 133 games, he's thrown 204 touchdowns and 118 interception. His career completion percentage is 62 percent and his career quarterback rating is 87.5.

Dalton's career stats are not legendary by any means, but he does have a career to lean on in free agency, unlike Stidham, who last year completed 2 of 4 passes for 14 yards and an interception in his rookie season.

Max Kellerman thinks that the Patriots should explore signing Dalton, considering he brings with him more experience than Stidham and he is a more stable option than Cam Newton, even if he is not a better player.

"I think the Patriots should consider Dalton, depending on what they think they have in Stidham ... Cam Newton, throughout his career, has been a much better quarterback than Andy Dalton ... but with Bill Belichick, it's really not about having the best player in order to have success – it's about taking the player that does what Bill Belichick needs him to do."

However, former Pro Bowl safety and Super Bowl champion Ryan Clark feels the opposite. He thinks that Dalton might represent more of the same, whereas Newton will represent the lightning rod that the Patriots offense desperately needs.

"My choice is Cam Newton. If you bring Andy Dalton in at this time in his career, he might not be that much of an upgrade over Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer. If you bring in Cam Newton, you bring in something different. You bring in a guy who can create on his own. That's what you needed on this team last year."

As of this morning, there are rumors that Jacksonville might be looking to bring in Dalton, even though most of the talk has been about New England.

However, there has been no official report that the Patriots are interested, and Colin Cowherd believes that report won't surface because Dalton nor Newton fit into New England's apparent plan to rebuild after Tom Brady.

"New England's got a plan. I hear this: 'Cam Newton, New England! Andy Dalton, New England!' ... [Bill] Belichick always has a plan, we just don't know about it ... Part of it is don't get tied to a quarterback, i.e. Andy Dalton and Cam Newton. It's expensive."

From Skip Bayless' standpoint, Dalton won't land in New England because he's almost too good of a fit. He believes Bill Belichick is out to prove something by grooming Jarrett Stidham to be the next Tom Brady.

"Bill Belichick wants to do nothing conventional. He doesn't want to be predictable. He doesn't want to go with the flow and do what everybody expects ... It's Brady-esque to take [Stidham] in the fourth round and say, 'I'll show you. I got a keeper. I got a winner. I got a future Pro Bowler.' ... Andy Dalton seems like a perfect segue ... but it feels too right. It's too right for Belichick ... To me, it feels like Stid or bust."

Conventional wisdom says that Dalton will find a new home soon enough – but conventional wisdom told us the same thing about Cam Newton.

We'll see if New England decides to take the conventional route with either of the two former Pro Bowlers.