Andy Dalton wants to get paid like franchise QB
By Mike Dyce
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is entering the final season of his rookie contract, and after leading the Bengals to three consecutive playoff appearances Dalton is looking to get paid like the franchise quarterback he sees himself as.
“It’s a quarterback-driven league, so quarterbacks get rewarded a lot of money,” Dalton said via ESPN.com. “For a lot of these quarterbacks, if you’re the quarterback of the team, you’re the face of the franchise. So these teams obviously believe in their guy and they’re going to pay him that way.”
Dalton labeling himself as a franchise quarterback might be a source of amusement for those who follow the NFL, but there is no arguing with three playoff trips even if they didn’t win a game. Dalton has been adamant that critics won’t deter him.
“Well, I’m very confident in what I’ve done,” Dalton said, via Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “The people who are the critics, they look at all of the negatives. They don’t look at all of the stuff that I’ve accomplished. They don’t look at that I’m one of three quarterbacks in the history of the NFL to do certain things. They don’t look at that kind of stuff. They want to find ways to tear me down but I’m not worried about that. They can say whatever they want. All that matters is what everyone believes in this organization and what I believe in myself. That’s how I go about my business.”
The Bengals, and new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, are looking to put more of an emphasis on the run game in an effort to help Dalton succeed.
“You have to have the threat of running the ball and the threat of being a physical unit in order to last for the duration of the season,” Jackson said during an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday morning, via ESPN.
“The key to being a quarterback in the National Football League No. 1 is winning, and he has that trait,” Jackson added. “No. 2 is being able to win the big games. Obviously, that’s the hump that we’re trying to get over.
“The guy has the makeup to do it. What I’ve got to do is just continue to push, prod, pull, motivate, support him and the rest of this offensive unit, and then we’ve got to pick up the pieces everywhere else to give him a chance to do his job. If we do that, this young man will be right where he needs to be.”
That could pave the way for Dalton to be more successful at the position, and maybe cash in more after the 2014 season than a contract extension before would net. Still, there is always the risk that it backfires and he has a bad season or suffers an injury.