The problem is that Angelo thought he could just plug Cutler in and the rest would take care of itself. With no real offensive talent to speak of, Cutler struggled. In his first season with the Bears, Cutler threw nearly as many interceptions (26) as he had touchdowns (27). In his second season, Cutler and the Bears had a bounceback year and buoyed by a resurgent defense, the Bears made the postseason. Cutler earned his first career postseason win, but followed that up with an NFC Championship game he’d like to forget.
Cutler suffered a knee injury in the first half of the game and was not able to return for the second half as the Bears fell to their hated rival, the Green Bay Packers. Twitter exploded as anyone and everyone called out Cutler for quitting and questioning his toughness. It was probably the low point for Cutler as a member of the Bears.
Since that loss, the Bears realized they needed to start putting pieces around Cutler. It took a couple of years, but after getting Brandon Marshall via trade and drafting Alshon Jeffery, the Bears gutted their offensive line and the 2013 was a record setting season for the Beloved. The Bears had the 2nd ranked scoring offense in the league. Following the season, Cutler signed a monster extension. When you peel away all the layers, it amounts to a 3-year, $54 million deal.
During his 5 year career with the Bears, Cutler has thrown for a franchise best 14913 yards with 101 touchdowns and 75 interceptions. He ranks first in yardage and second in touchdowns, trailing only Sid Luckman. It’s not saying much, but when the dust clears Cutler will be the franchise’s best quarterback and that’s good enough to earn the #28 spot on our list.
What do you think of the ranking? Too high? Too low? I guess you’ll have to check back to see who finished ahead of him to judge for yourself. We’ll be counting down a different person each day as we inch our way to the September 7th season opener.