http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/08/what_does_andy_daltons_six-yea.html
What does Andy Dalton's six-year contract extension mean for AJ McCarron?
When Cincinnati selected
AJ McCarron in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft,
there was speculation the Bengals picked the former Alabama quarterback as an insurance policy, a competitor or even a replacement for Andy Dalton.
Dalton is one of five quarterbacks in NFL history to lead his team into the playoffs in each of his first three seasons. He, Peyton Manning and
Cam Newton are the only QBs with at least 3,000 passing yards in each of their first three seasons. Dalton, Manning and Dan Marino are the only QBs with at least 80 touchdown passes in their first three seasons. Last season, Dalton set Cincinnati records for passing yards and touchdown passes.
But Cincinnati had lost all three of its playoff games with Dalton under center, and he'd thrown one TD pass and six interceptions in those losses. So entering the final season of his first contract, Dalton had some uncertainty attached to his future in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati was described as "
an ideal landing spot" for McCarron.
On Monday, the Bengals showed what they thought of Dalton, announcing he had
signed a six-year contract extension that could keep him with the team through 2020. Cincinnati did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but reports indicated it
could be worth as much as $115 million if Dalton reaches all the incentives in it. The immediate numbers are a signing bonus of $12 million and a roster bonus in three days of $5 million, dwarfing his base salary for the 2014 season of $986,000. That appears to be the
only money guaranteed in the contract.
On Monday, Dalton was the focus of the
Bengals' press conference announcing the contract. No mention was made of the other quarterbacks on the Cincinnati roster, and none of the reporters attending asked how the signing affected them.
Marvin Lewis, going into his 12th season as the Bengals' coach, laid out his QB policy, though.
"From when I started on this job, I thought it was important that we knew who the quarterback was going to be all the time,"
Lewis said. "We've been consistent with that. It's played well for us. If you look across the league, there're very few times you can go in and out of quarterbacks and that team ends up being successful. ... As the guys come into that huddle, they want to know who's leading them. It's our job as coaches always to put everybody in the right positions. But it just takes some of the anxiety out of the way when they know who their quarterback is going to be and who the trigger point is all the time. We've been fortunate with that -- Jon (Kitna) the first year, Carson (Palmer) and now Andy to continue up and follow through. So I think it's a consistent message."
On Cincinnati's
first depth chart of training camp, McCarron is listed as the third-team quarterback between eight-year veteran
Jason Campbell, a former
Auburn star, at No. 2 and No. 4 Matt Scott, who spent last year on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad, even though he hasn't practiced with the full team yet in training camp.
The former St. Paul's prep star was placed on the active/non-football injury list before training camp. He was limited in his throwing during OTAs and minicamp. Reports then listed his issue as "arm tightness." When he was put on the non-football injury list, his shoulder was termed the problem area, and reports said the Bengals had put him on a throwing program before returning him to full duty. On Monday, a report on the Bengals' web site
listed McCarron's ailment only as "elbow." Whatever the issue, McCarron
remains on the non-football injury list with the Bengals heading toward their preseason opener on Thursday night, when they visit the Kansas City Chiefs, a game in which he normally could have expected to see plenty of playing time.
