Andy Dalton makes bold proclamation about where he stands amongst NFL quarterbacks

You can call Andy Dalton a transition quarterback, a stop-gap kind of guy. Teams sign him to fill a temporary need due to injury, retirement or slowly maturing draft picks.

These days, you can find Dalton, who is headed into his 13th season, with the Carolina Panthers. He’s there with Bryce Young, the former Alabama star who was the top pick of April’s NFL Draft. The Panthers signed Dalton in March to a two-year, $10 million contract that’s heavy on incentives. Will Dalton play this year? Is he a very expensive babysitter for an even more expensive rookie QB? We’ll discover those answers soon enough.

Meanwhile, Andy Dalton views himself as a starter. This attitude doesn’t have anything to do with a depth chart.

“I view myself as a starter in this league,” Andy Dalton said in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I don’t think there are 32 guys better than me. But this is the situation I am in, and I understand that. As soon as I don’t think I’m one of the best 32, or a little lower, I’ll be watching football on TV.”

So the 35-year-old veteran is watching the game from the sideline or perhaps under center, depending on how quickly Young can adapt to NFL defenses. Dalton believes he’s in a good spot for this point in his career because of who the coaches are.

“I am in a really, really good situation here,” he said. “Frank Reich played til he was 38. He was a career backup. He understands the continuity you want in a (quarterback) room. Josh McCown played until he was 40. … Josh was my friend for the last 10 years, and now he’s my coach.”

Reich, of course, is the head coach, while McCown is the assistant in charge of quarterbacks.

The Bengals selected Andy Dalton, the former TCU star, in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. While in Cincinnati, Dalton and the Bengals made the playoffs for five consecutive years. He also earned spots in three Pro Bowls. After nine seasons, Cincy waived Dalton after selecting Joe Burrow with the top pick of the 2020 draft.

He returned to Texas, his home state, to play for the Dallas Cowboys and back up Dak Prescott. However, he became the starter when Prescott suffered a severe ankle injury. By 2021, Dalton signed with the Bears. He started the first two games, but missed action because of injury. Once healthy, Dalton lost his job to rookie Justin Fields, Chicago’s first-round selection.

And then in 2022, Andy Dalton joined the Saints, who still were looking for a quarterback after Drew Brees retired the year before. Now, he’s changed cities again, this time to Charlotte.

“I have confidence in who I am as a player,” Dalton said. “Not a lot of people can say, ‘This is Year 13 in the NFL.’ I feel good about where I am. It’s fun to be in this position, to help the next generation of quarterbacks.”