30 NFL stars who could retire after the 2024 season

14. Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers

Andy Dalton was once considered the quintessentially average NFL quarterback. The NFL literally has something called the “Dalton Scale,” which measures which quarterbacks are good enough to win with. Dalton was at the edge of that scale all the time. A team could always go to the playoffs with Dalton, but more than that was off the table.

Still, being an above-average quarterback will get you a job forever. It has been five years since Dalton played his last game with Cincinnati, and he’s been considered one of the better backups since then. Now, as he enters his second season in the dumpster fire that is Carolina, he showed last year he was still probably better than a few dozen quarterbacks who took snaps. Heck, he might have been better than Bryce Young in his short time.

However, Dalton has been holding onto this dream for quite a while, and now that his contract with the Panthers is coming to an end after the 2024 season, it’s an easy exit for him. He’ll still get some prorated signing bonuses. Not bad getting $967,000 gross for sitting at home. 

Dalton is getting up there in age, and even though the backup quarterback is considered the easiest job in sports, we’ve seen more and more of them being forced to play real minutes. Is it worth it to take those hits for a special teamer’s salary? Maybe for Dalton who has a real love for the game, but he’s also made his money and can retire happily with his family or move into coaching.