Trading AJ McCarron Is The Right Move For Bengals

After three seasons as the backup quarterback and one near playoff victory, the Bengals should trade AJ McCarron this offseason.

The Cincinnati Bengals snapped the ball on offense over 1,000 times this season. Only two of them featured quarterback AJ McCarron. The third-year backup handed the ball off twice to Rex Burkhead at the end of a 35-17 loss to the New England Patriots on October 16th.

After being stuck in Andy Dalton‘s shadow for the last three seasons, the time has come for the Bengals to trade McCarron. Even he expects to be dealt elsewhere. After the Bengals’ 27-10 season-ending victory over Baltimore on New Year’s Day, McCarron said his possible goodbyes and claimed, “I want to play. I think I can start in this league.”

Of course, he does. Who wouldn’t? No professional quarterback wants to watch from the sidelines for his entire career unless he’s way passed his prime (looking at you, Charlie Batch).

By now, you all know McCarron’s accolades while attending the University of Alabama. In five years, he won three BCS National Champions (playing in two) and set nearly every school passing record.

He was even featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in October 2013, an issue that debated if he was one of the greatest college football players ever. It may have jinxed him, though, considering his Crimson Tide had their chances of a three-peat wiped away in a crazy 34-28 loss to Auburn exactly one month later — a game where McCarron threw for three touchdowns.