NFC North News: Bears Sign Andy Dalton to One-Year Deal Worth Up to $13 Million

The Chicago Bears have a new starting quarterback: they've signed veteran Andy Dalton to a one-year, $10 million deal worth up to $13 million with incentives.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as this news was reported, Chicagoans and Bears fans everywhere began to express their frustration on social media. For a team that was reportedly hoping to make a blockbuster trade for Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson, settling for Dalton must feel like a kick to the gut.

According to Adam Schefter, the Bears aggressively pursued Wilson but were told that the Seahawks aren't trading him "at this time." When it comes to Watson, there's still little clarity on that situation and Chicago likely doesn't have the assets to compete with offers from teams like the Dolphins or Jets. So in a year where GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy desperately need to improve on consecutive 8-8 seasons, their quarterbacks are Dalton and Nick Foles.

That's not ideal.

To be fair, Dalton isn't horrible. He's pretty clearly better than Foles and Mitch Trubisky and has spent a decade in the NFL for a reason. But at this point in his career, he's someone you'd rather have as a high-level backup than a starting option, especially for a team who plans to contend. Dalton's career marks in some key stats are quite mediocre: 87.5 passer rating, 6.01 adjusted net yards per attempt, 62.2 percent completion rate, 1.73 to 1 touchdown to interception ratio.

Dalton reunites with Bill Lazor, the Bears' offensive coordinator who was Dalton's QB coach or OC for three seasons with the Bengals.

Does this mean the Bears are locked into starting Dalton at quarterback this season? Not necessarily. Wilson and Watson seem like major longshots, but they could still try to trade up for Mac Jones or draft one of the non-top five QBs. But in all likelihood, Dalton will be the guy for the Bears this year.

That's good news for the rest of the division. Yes, Dalton beat the Vikings last year as a member of the Cowboys, but they won that game by three points while facing a Minnesota defense featuring Jaleel Johnson, Jalyn Holmes, Shamar Stephen, Kris Boyd, and Chris Jones as starters. The Vikings should be significantly more dangerous on that side of the ball this year. The Bears always seem to play the Vikings tough even with mediocre QBs like Trubisky, Foles, or Chase Daniel, so that may well continue with Dalton under center.

But Chicago would be terrifying with either Wilson or Watson taking snaps, and it seems like that possibility has mostly been avoided. The last time Dalton faced a good Vikings defense, he was horrendous in a blowout loss back in 2017.

With Matthew Stafford also out of the division and replaced by Jared Goff in Detroit, Aaron Rodgers is the only quarterback that should keep Mike Zimmer up at night.

The #Vikings get four games against Andy Dalton and Jared Goff this season. https://t.co/yoM40sOqdm
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) March 16, 2021

You also have to feel for Allen Robinson, who was franchise tagged this offseason and still won't get to play with a great quarterback for the first time in his career.

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