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Cheese Curds, 3/17: Andy Dalton heads to Chicago, 2021 league year finally starts today

Dalton agreed to a deal with the Bears, while David Bakhtiari is no longer the highest-paid lineman in NFL history.

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San Francisco 49ers v Dallas Cowboys Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff...and now Andy Dalton. Those are your expected starting quarterbacks for the 2021 season in the NFC North. One of those quarterbacks finished first in DVOA last year and won the MVP award. One (Cousins) finished 10th. The other two? 22nd and 30th.

The Bears locked up Dalton in free agency on Tuesday to be their starter, putting the final nail in the coffin of Mitchell Trubisky’s career in Chicago. One Packers safety who had a few particularly memorable interceptions off Trubisky isn’t impressed by the signing, however, as you’ll see later on in today’s curds.

Meanwhile, the Packers will need to get a contract extension done with either Za’Darius Smith or Davante Adams — or a restructure for Aaron Rodgers — in order to get below the salary cap this afternoon. The league year officially begins at 4:00 PM Eastern, which means that trades can finally be executed, free agent contracts can start getting signed, and teams must be under the cap. The Packers have some work to do to get there, so keep it here at APC for any news coming out of Green Bay today.

Bears to sign quarterback Andy Dalton to one-year deal - Windy City Gridiron
After spending a season with Mike McCarthy in Dallas, Dalton now comes to Chicago where he will presumably be the starter in 2021 with the Bears looking for a long-term answer in the draft.

The Bears may have tickled Amos' funny bone with their quarterback acquisition in free agency | JSonline.com
If you're laughing about the Dalton news, you're not alone. The former Bear-turned-Packer is chuckling right along with you.

Bears GM offered trades for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson before signing Dalton | NFL.com
The Bears did try to acquire Wilson, however, but John Schneider told them that the Seahawks have no plans to trade the QB after talking things over with Pete Carroll.

NFL free agency: San Francisco 49ers, Trent Williams agree to contract | Niners Wire
David Bakhtiari is no longer the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL after Williams got a six-year, $138 million deal. Well, it’s technically $138.06 million, meaning he exceeded Bakhtiari’s deal by a scant $10,000 per year.

Man posing as Wu-Tang Clan member sentenced to prison for scamming hotels out of $300K | WSB-TV
Two men learned the hard way that Wu-Tang is nothing to mess with.