The Bengals released Dalton on Thursday after drafting Joe Burrow.

Andy Dalton is ready to move on and embrace free agency.

Dalton hit the free-agent market Thursday when the Bengals released him after nine years with the franchise. The team failed to find a trade partner for its veteran quarterback, which prompted Dalton to ask to be released, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Dalton recognizes that a trade never happened as a result of several factors.

“This year there were a good amount of quarterbacks that were available. I think it would have worked out differently if I had been a free agent when the new league year started,” Dalton told Bengals.com. “I was still under contract and that hurt me. I’m sure teams knew they were going to take a quarterback No. 1 and they would release me and there was no reason to rush into anything.”

Dalton was previously linked