Bengals unlikely to trade former Alabama QB A.J. McCarron
By Kevin Duffey
Published:
What would people give to be in A.J. McCarron’s situation?
After all, he’s sitting back collecting a nice paycheck as an NFL backup QB. But if you know anything about McCarron, he’s just not like that at all. McCarron is a competitor, and he still has that chip on his shoulder for falling all the way to the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
So, he wants to play somewhere. He wants to become an everyday starter in the NFL, but it appears like he won’t be given the opportunity this year and will be the Bengals’ backup again in 2017. He spoke about that during the Bengals’ voluntary workouts.
“It is what it is,” McCarron said Monday. “If I am back here, I’ll be the best guy I can be and best teammate, best backup for (Andy Dalton) and help him in whatever way I can. That’s my job.
“As a competitor you want to play,” he said. “I’m a huge competitor, no matter what I’m playing. I’ve always been that way. I want to play. But, like I said, these are the circumstances and it’s something I can’t control. I’m at peace with it.”
McCarron is set to be a free agent in 2018, but it’s unclear whether he’ll be a restricted or unrestricted free agent because he spent his rookie season on the reserve/non-football injury list. The lack of clarity comes from his time injured as a rookie and whether it counts as an accrued season toward free agency or not. Being a restricted free agent means that the Bengals can match an offer from another team.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
