Chicago Bears Extend Jay Cutler’s Contract
Jerry Angelo has had a hole burning in his pocket ever since he brought in a franchise quarterback. He spent some of that money on Tuesday. Jay Cutler has signed a contact extension with the Chicago Bears to keep him in the Orange and Blue through at least 2013. According to the NFL Network, the extension adds about $20 million in guaranteed money to the $30 million extension.
People have been speculating about this extension ever since the Bears brought Cutler here in a trade from the Broncos back in April. In the meantime, Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers have made rather large deposits to their local banks after signing extensions of their own.
Early reviews of the extension call it a win-win deal. It gets Cutler an early payday and also potentially gets him back to the bargaining table as a relatively young 30-year old for a chance at another payday. It allows the Bears, who are under the salary cap, to move his roster bonus money under this year’s cap and gets him at a relatively affordable price. Here’s what ESPN Chicago’s Jeff Dickerson had to say:
"This move makes sense for both parties involved. Cutler receives financial security despite the looming threat of a lockout in 2011. The Bears lock up their best player for an extended period of time at a reasonable price, when you consider the NFL may move away from a salary cap system unless a new collective bargaining agreement is drawn up before the 2010 season. Plus, the knowledge that Cutler is going to be around for the long haul should prove to be an effective recruiting tool in free agency."
As for my take, the deal makes a lot of sense. The Bears already made the commitment to Cutler back on April 2, 2009, the day they brought him here in the blockbuster trade that packaged Kyle Orton and a couple of first round picks to the Denver Broncos for Cutler . From that day forward it was a question of when not if the Bears would pony up the big $$$’s.
Jay has come in about as advertised this season. He’s a fiery competitor with a canon for an arm. He has a gunslinger mentality and will force it into tight spaces, sometimes to his (and the team’s) detriment: INT’s. He could use help in the PR department, especially his post-game press conferences after a loss, but otherwise I haven’t found him to be anything but a professional quarterback and a good leader. With his big money deal in place, all that separates him from the elite quarterbacks in the league is what’s going on between the earholes and a Super Bowl ring or two.
What do you think? Vote in our poll:
BEAR DOWN!!!
Through the month of October, my usual BEAR DOWN signoff will be in pink to raise awareness for National Breast Cancer Awareness month.