Shocker! Not. Quarterback Joe Burrow out of LSU, is officially a Cincinnati Bengal. Burrow remains a tiger. This pick was widely expected to be made. All signs were pointing to this pick and head coach Zac Tayor never tried to shy away from praising Burrow.  On the Cincinnati Enquirer Bengals Beat Podcast, he said, “He’s put a lot of great things on tape. He’s one of several guys that we’ve studied. You can certainly see why he’s in that conversation,” Taylor said on the show. “He led the team to a championship. You know that, that goes a long ways. Certainly, guys that are winners and guys that have won championships, those are all things that we’re trying to achieve. And so he certainly has put himself in that position, it’s well deserved on his end”(bengalsbeatpodcast). Coming off a phenomenal year, throwing 5,671 yards with 60 passing touchdowns while completing 76.3% of his passes, leading LSU to the 2020 National Championship title. Not to mention, he won the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding college player. What Bengals fans are hoping is that Burrow will lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl, something Andy Dalton has failed to do. Now the question to the Andy Dalton fans out there is what’s going to happen to Dalton? To be honest we don’t know yet. Will he be traded or cut? Will he stay with the team and still be the starter heading into next year and have rookie Burrow sit on the bench? The Bengals will have to decide. Ian Rapoport informed us that Taylor has said the team will be “keeping all options on the table.” It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

   At the end of the day, now with the new quarterback in town, the future of the franchise is in his hands and Dalton is on his way out. Dalton may stay with the Bengals this year as a backup/mentor and help the new quarterback. Dalton has given the Bengals five straight playoff appearances throughout his career with the team, and has made a difference in the community at large. However, fans should be ecstatic about the future of their team and the potential of their new QB and wish nothing but the best for Dalton,whether that’s with the Bengals or elsewhere.