Did Panthers' Andy Dalton want to return to Bengals after Joe Burrow injury?

After quarterback Joe Burrow went down with a serious toe injury that left him needing surgery in Week 2, the Cincinnati Bengals lost three consecutive games before they acquired veteran Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 7. 

Flacco has since tossed five touchdown passes over his last six quarters of play with Cincinnati, giving the club hope that he will be able to keep it in the playoff hunt. 

That said, some understandably wondered before the Flacco trade if current Carolina Panthers backup Andy Dalton had any interest in returning to Cincinnati, his NFL home from 2011 through the 2019 season. For a piece published Thursday, Dalton spoke with ESPN's David Newton about a reunion that never materialized. 

Did Andy Dalton explore being traded from Panthers to Bengals?

"When you think about it, it could have been cool,'' Dalton said about possibly rejoining the Bengals this fall. "At this point in my career, it wasn't worth trying to explore that option right now.''

A report from last week revealed that the Bengals put together a long list of possible fill-ins at the position before they chose Flacco, in part because "his ability in the dropback game would allow the staff to run the closest thing to a Burrow offense, which in turn would maximize the talent on hand." For what it's worth, Dalton's name wasn't mentioned in that report. 

Dalton surprisingly became Carolina's QB1 last season when head coach Dave Canales benched Bryce Young after just two games in September 2024. Dalton ultimately made five starts and may have stayed in the lineup had he never suffered a sprained thumb in an October car accident. Instead, Young played well enough across his last 10 starts to silence talk about a potential quarterback controversy. 

That said, Young is currently dealing with a sprained ankle that may keep him out of action when 4-3 Carolina hosts the Buffalo Bills (4-2) this coming Sunday. Newton shared that "a league source told ESPN on Monday that Young is expected to miss at least one start."

Andy Dalton would've considered move to Bengals as part of retirement tour

As of Thursday morning, ESPN BET had a Panthers team on track to start Dalton as 7.5-point home underdogs against the Bills. Meanwhile, the 37-year-old doesn't seem to be thinking about riding off into the sunset of retirement anytime soon. 

"We've been happy here,'' Dalton added. "Now, if this would have been my last year of playing football, I would have maybe considered it.''