Despite his huge contract, Andy Dalton isn’t secure at his starting quarterback position. The Cincinnati Bengals are impressed with the work A.J. McCarron has put in during the offseason, seeing him as potentially taking over the position not too far into the future.

Both Fox Sports and NFL.Com are reporting via sources from the Bengals coaching staff and also players that have faced him on the defensive side of the ball that McCarron’s offseason performance has been fantastic, and we’ve been hearing more and more about his potential as a starting quarterback not too far from now. Maybe not this year, but if Dalton continues to disappoint when it matters the most, a change is going to come.

McCarron has a stellar college career with Alabama that included two national titles. However, teams didn’t like his arrogance during pre-draft interviews. Eventually the Bengals added him, but he still hasn’t played a single snap for them. That might change this year if Dalton, who has helped the Bengals make the playoffs in each of his four seasons but boasts a 0-4 record as a starter in the postseason games, continues to struggle on more than rare occasions.

Dalton is signed to a six-year, $96 million deal, but the Bengals have plenty of exit stations, and it’s basically a year-to-year kind of contract, as it should be considering most view the team’s success over the last four years as in spite of Dalton, and not because of him. If he continues to cause everyone to feel that he’s holding this team back, a switch at the quarterback spot which seemed very unlikely not too long ago will turn into reality.