Feb. 26, 2026, 10:00 p.m. ET

The Cincinnati Bengals need a backup quarterback. 

Andy Dalton might be available. 

Is it worth a look?

The Bengals would like Joe Flacco back, but he’s going to take his time exploring free agency for any possible starting jobs around the NFL. Jake Browning is a non-starter of a conversation at this point as a restricted free agent. 

Dalton, though, is available through trade from the Carolina Panthers, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 

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The former Bengals quarterback would certainly fit what offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher talked about this week during the NFL combine about the backup role these days, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com: 

“The backup quarterback is a unique job, and an understanding of what that is, is important. Because you have to have a guy that’s very intrinsically motivated, somebody that can just go to work and do the work day in and day out because they know it’s the right thing to do, and because they can get themselves to a place mentally where, ‘I might have to play at any given moment, but I also may not play all year.’ And that’s different than any other position in the building.”

The Bengals will have plenty of veteran options in free agency, as opposed to trading resources to go get Dalton. 

But there’s the obvious appeal with Dalton: He’s been in the building plenty. If both parties could overlook the whole benching Andy Dalton on his birthday thing and how things overall ended, it could work. He’s only a $5.8 million cap hit in 2026.

Considering Dalton remains one of the NFL’s best backups, it certainly makes some level of sense.Â