Bengals should make signing veteran QB off-season priority

The Bengals need to make signing a veteran quarterback an offseason priority.

The loss of star rookie Joe Burrow for the rest of the season left the Bengals with a viable quarterback behind him. With Burrow, the Cincinnati offense has been stagnant led by Ryan Finley and Brandon Allen. The Bengals need to sign a veteran QB in the offseason with the uncertainty surrounding Burrow.

Burrow torn his ACL and MCL in a loss to the Washington Football Team last month. The rehab time is projected to be nine to 12 months.

That would put Burrow as being ready for the beginning of next season at the most optimistic time table. Cincinnati needs to build better depth at QB entering 2021.

The decision to let Andy Dalton leave in the 2020 offseason will be on display this week when the Bengals play the Dallas Cowboys. Dalton returned to his home state in the offseason to back up Dak Prescott.

When Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle in October, Dalton became the starting QB. Finley has played two games since Burrow’s injury. Finley is 9-17 for 70 yards with no TDs and two interceptions.

Allen is 28-48 for 289 yards two TDs and two interceptions. Dalton has completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 870 yards, five TDs and five interceptions. The Bengals could re-sign Dalton for 2021.

On a one-year contract in Dallas, the longtime Bengals QB will be a valuable backup somewhere in 2020 if the Houston native does not stay in Dallas. There will be other veterans’ names that are not sexy but would be significant upgrades over Allen and Finley for 2021. Among those names is Prescott.