New York Jets: 3 potential replacements for Zach Wilson

2. Andy Dalton

The New Orleans Saints are hopeful that Jameis Winston can return to the same form they saw early in the 2021 season. He had them off to a 5-2 start before a torn ACL ended his season. They then turned to Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill but neither had the success Winston did.

Since they weren’t sure if he would be healthy, the Saints also went out and added Andy Dalton in free agency. Dalton is an experienced backup who started for nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. He then went to Dallas in 2020 and started nine games for the Cowboys when Dak Prescott broke his ankle.

He turned his solid play that season into a $10 million contract with the Chicago Bears who wanted him to start while Justin Fields sat and watched. Dalton and the entire Bears offense was a mess but that had more to do with Matt Nagy than it did with Dalton.

Now in New Orleans, they hope he won’t be needed — and maybe if Winston looks to be fully recovered from his ACL injury (and the recent foot sprain is minor), they might be willing to listen to an offer. For Dalton, he would surely prefer to play rather than watch, but it also might cost New York a higher draft pick than expected to pry Dalton out of their hands.

But if they feel as though they could make some noise this season with a capable signal-caller, it could be worth it.