Should the Chicago Bears Say Goodbye to Cutler?
Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has been a mainstay in town for years. He hasn’t taken the Bears to the gates of a Super Bowl during that time. Is his time up in Chicago?
If you haven’t noticed over the course of the last few games the Chicago Bears have found consistency at the quarterback position. Coming into the season, the team had penciled in Jay Cutler as the starter. Against Indianapolis last Sunday, he was nowhere to be found.
Cutler had started for the Bears consistently since coming to Chicago in 2009. His story with the team is legendary. Many Bears fans grit their teeth when they hear Cutler’s name. He has been one of the most inconsistent subplots for the Bears over the past few years. Critics, fans, players and even some coaches have a love/hate relationship with him.
In all of the time Cutler has been in Chicago, he has taken the Bears to the playoffs just once (2010-11 season). Fans would like to forget the playoffs that year. The Bears played the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game in their biggest game in a long time. Cutler ended up going out with a knee injury and his replacements, Todd Collins and Caleb Hanie, could not do much. The Bears lost and their shot at getting to the Super Bowl ended.
Many fans do not forgive Cutler for what happened that day. Even though the injury was out of his control, people say he could have played. They believe he could have led the team to the Super Bowl.
His career has been filled with injuries and Cutler has only played one full season since coming to Chicago. He has had concussions, knee injuries, hand injuries among other ailments. Granted, not all players can stay healthy for an entire season but Cutler has made it a habit since the trade.
Fans want to see a consistent performance at the quarterback position. The Bears have never had a quarterback in the mold of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. These guys are franchise quarterbacks that can lead a team to the Super Bowl almost every year. Chicago hasn’t had a quarterback that has played like that in the modern NFL era.
Maybe Jim McMahon was the closest to having a “dream” quarterback but his time on the stage was short and filled with injuries. Other quarterbacks have stepped in and been consistent but none have been spectacular.
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When Cutler was in Denver, he had a solid three years there. He did manage to play two straight 16 game seasons and put up some nice numbers. The Bears were willing to pay a hefty price to bring a still untested quarterback. They felt he could lead them somewhere they hadn’t been to in years- a Super Bowl.
Time has passed and the Bears are in no better position now than they were when they traded for Jay. He honestly hasn’t done much for the Bears.
It would appear as if Cutler’s time with the Bears is coming to an end. They have, for the most part, gotten some solid, but not yet spectacular play, out of Brian Hoyer. Granted, Hoyer is not the answer to the franchise quarterback dilemma but he has proven they can win with someone else.
The good thing about having Hoyer playing well is that Cutler has time to fully recover. Too many times before, the team has been in a rush to bring him back. The reason why has been because his replacement (except Josh McCown played back in 2013) was playing poorly. The Bears needed to have Cutler back to win games.
This season, this is not the case. It may not need to be that way again.
Stories, about Cutler stating that he is open to not being a Bear in 2017, are starting to flood the media. Maybe that would be the best thing for Chicago and for Jay. They haven’t had much luck with him as their quarterback and Jay hasn’t had much luck in Chicago. They don’t owe him any money after this season. The large money eating contract they gave him has no more guaranteed money in it. Both sides could make it a clean break and call it even.
But is it the right thing to happen? Should the two parties end their relationship?
Quite honestly, a split between the Bears and Cutler is long overdue. It is time for the Bears and Cutler to part ways. Chicago is finding some luck with another quarterback and can bring in some additional talent next offseason. They can develop this new talent and get to the point of having a franchise quarterback. Uncharted territory for the Bears for sure.
Chicago has had troubles at various positions over the years. However, out of all those position problems, quarterback has been the number one trouble spot. It’s time the team did something and got that spot to a stable and productive state. They can no longer do that with Cutler.
It’s a pretty safe bet he won’t be back. That would the best thing for Chicago.