Andy Dalton is the perfect quarterback for the Patriots

They may be cooling on him, but Andy Dalton would be the perfect quarterback for the New England Patriots.

Based on the idea Tom Brady would be gone, Peter King of NBC Sports was the early driver of the Andy Dalton to the New England Patriots bandwagon. With Brady indeed gone Dalton has been an easily speculated trade target, but Jeff Howe of The Athletic has reported the Jarrett Stidham is the favorite to be the Patriots’ next starting quarterback.

The Patriots don’t appear interested in Dalton or Cam Newton, and with the release of Cody Kessler on Wednesday they’re down to Stidham and Brian Hoyer as the only two quarterbacks on the roster. Drafting a quarterback, perhaps with the 23rd-overall pick, is an absolute and lingering possibility.

Brady was the model of the ideal quarterback for Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick. Now, there is actual evidence showing what Belichick wants in a signal caller.

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah is a former league scout. He took to Twitter to post a handout he got at a scout school during his time with the Ravens. Belichick documented his philosophies and what he looks for in positions.

Without much regard for flowing sentences, as a scout or coach might write quickly in a notebook, here’s what Belichick pointed to back in 1991 as the ideal traits in a quarterback.

"“#1 is make good decisions–then, arm size, physically tough, leadership, guys look up to and have confidence in, a real competitor. Accurate rather than guy with a cannon. Emphasis on our game will be on decision, timing, accuracy–guy needs to be confident, intelligence is important but not as much so as field awareness and judgement. Can’t be sloppy fundamentally, unsound guy with ball handling, techs etc. Footwork, drops, release, etc.–QB has to be able to throw the ball with accuracy.”"

Those traits scream Brady, and to a lesser degree they scream Dalton too.

Dalton was benched for three games and re-inserted as the Bengals’ starter last year. Other than that he has been durable, suffering a fractured thumb late in the 2015 season when he made a tackle after an interception. He suffered torn ligaments in the same thumb in 2018, and missed five games.

A couple a fluke injuries and a benching in favor of an unprepared rookie are all that have stopped him from starting every game for the last eight seasons.

Dalton is set to make $17.5 million this year. Even after cutting Kessler, the Patriots don’t have anywhere near the cap space (around $1.6 million) to take that on in a trade. If the Bengals cut him that changes the equation, but it would still take some cap gymnastics to make room for Dalton on a cheap deal.

But leaving aside pesky finances, Dalton still looks like the perfect quarterback for Belichick and the Patriots.