It's a coin flip. If Bryce sits out the toughest part of the schedule and the corpse of Andy Dalton plays like a decrepit old man, (very possible) the narrative is, "The team was winning with Bryce!" Sitting out the rest of the season with a winning record intact is a very savvy "skip the combine" type move.
On the other hand, if Dalton visits Barry Bonds' pharmacy then shows up on Sunday all hooped up on Jolt Cola and Fun Dip and the offense looks noticeably better, it might be the writing on the wall in regard to Bryce's extension.
Interesting times.