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Stretches:
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Plenty teams would probably grab him. Bears are likely stuck overpaying him.

Here's where fans have to ask themselves what they want:

Hypothetically let's say the Bears finish 10-6 and lose first round, Cutler plays as Cutler has, but more on the good side than bad. If you're the Bears do you say fuck it and dump him, pinning your hopes to (insert rookie) while overpaying for (insert shady journeyman backup) OR worse yet having (insert rookie)'s only competition being Blanchard and McCown, while simultaneously dealing with the potentially moody Marshall's fallout over Cutler being gone?

Unless the Bears go into 2014 with their pants down at the most important position in sports, isn't it better to use the money potentially wasted on some random free agent nobody to sign Cutler to 3-4 years and STILL draft a rookie who's clearly vying to be the heir apparent?

If the Packers can do it with Favre and Rodgers surely the Bears can do it with Cutler and whoever.

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Most of those teams blow, and will probably be drafting one of the many available quality qb's in the draft. They won't want to build around a QB who is past 30 when players with equal upside are available. The Texans could be interested but why not just keep Schaub? He's better.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

If Cutler isn't remarkably better this year I think you dump him. He's getting too old to think he's suddenly going to get better, at least with the Bears. He's much more likely to regress especially since he relies so heavily on his athleticism to overcome flaws in his game.

Now, if he puts up numbers like a top ten QB, I think you give him another couple of years.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Your post hits on a couple things I've been thinking about during the board's conversations about Cutler. Firstly, and I'm not saying this is your argument, but I don't think Cutler is at fault for the past 3-4 seasons of futility. Now that the Bears have seriously addressed the personnel problems that prevented them from catching passes and scoring points, I think we're in a better position to ascertain whether Cutler is an asset or liability moving forward. In other words, I think we have for the first time realistically high expectations for Cutler, expectations that he should meet.

Now, even if he for some reason doesn't meet those expectations (and I think he can), I'd still agree with your opinion of resigning him and drafting a QB next year, only because I am scared of going back to the rudderless Bears of the past, where journeyman QBs who couldn't throw forward manned the most important position on the field. Whether or not Cutler is your guy, I'd keep him around like you keep a job you hate but don't leave until you find something measurably better.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Vegan/BR both make excellent points (that's right, I just agreed with BR). Cutler's feet against the fire right now is good for everyone all around. Even if Cutler leads the Bears to a title he's certainly not in line for Rodgers money.

Cutler's pulling in around $13-14M right now, which puts him in the top 10. The most comparable contract him and his agent would want is something close to Romo. Romo's 33 and got inked to an absolutely braindead deal, paying him $18M annually. This sounds terrifying, but I think the Bears have a much better counter with a more realistic deal for Jay to sign:

Tom Brady's deal. He's arguably the best QB in the NFL (emphasis on arguably) and is pulling in only $11-ish million per, but the guaranteed money is what it's all about. Plus that deal only goes to 2018. If the Bears could offer him a 4 year contract with a lower base salary but more guaranteed money, I strongly believe Cutler would sign it.

This leaves more cap for the team to navigate free agency, puts a concrete timetable on which to draft and groom a quarterback, and let's the Marshall/Cutler combo play on a little longer.

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Assuming that Cutler has a comparable season to last year, what good does it do to keep him around? In the NFL, with how important the QB position is, your goal should be to either have a top 10 QB or have someone you think can be a top 10 QB or maybe even top 5. That's why this year is so important for Cutler. If he can't be a top 10 QB next year, then it's just not going to happen here, and probably not anywhere. Cutler needs to be viewed as a veteran now and his production judged that this is as good as it will ever get.

To put it another way, Ryan Fitzpatrick outperformed Cutler last year, and he was cut and now he's a backup. Obviously, I'm not saying that Cutler deserves the same as Cutler is a better player, but it puts into perspective how we should be judging Cutler. Most players with Cutlers production in Chicago would have been replaced or at least be backed up by a qb considered the future of the franchise.

To just say "Give me another 5 years of this" doesn't fit with how the NFL works given the production of the player, and I think Emery knows that.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Cutler largely refused to play within the parameters of a structured offense under Turner, Martz and Tice. Many of the offense's failures during his tenure here fall squarely on his shoulders. He is a world-class douche.

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I don't see that tall one. I saw Cutler running for his life or making play adjustments to not get killed. I do not recall him being actively insubordinate especially when Martz did not allow audibles.

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Elections have consequences.

Martz wanted him to throw to spots, Cutler wanted to wait until he saw an open receiver. When Cutler began playing in accordance with Martz's directives, the offense was much more successful.

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ok cool didn't realize that

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Elections have consequences.

If I recall the issue with Martz was the seven step drop and how the line was incapable of blocking for that long. Additionally Cutler was forced to rely on people like Hester and Roy Williams to run precise routes and catch balls, both of whom weren't up to the task. I also remember Martz having to un-Martz the offense before Cutler died, so I don't know if I'm convinced by your assertion that the offense started working once Cutler fell in line with Martz.

You're right about Cutler being in general a jerk. But again I think it's slightly reductionist to pin all the blame on Cutler for the bad offense. Just look at the turnover at WR, TE, and OL since Cutler has been here. It becomes pretty evident I think that he had basically nothing to work with in a sport that requires your dependence on multiple players doing their job in order for you to do yours.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

The offense regressed last year with the addition of Marshall and Jeffery. Meanwhile, QB's all over the place are turning little known or underperforming players into productive weapons. I'm not talking about Manning and Brees here but even players like Romo and Luck.

If we are still on the "the pieces aren't here for Cutler to succeed" then the answer to if Cutler is the future is already determined. Franchise QB's overcome not having everything be perfect.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

well, I'm glad it's all settled. all emery has to do is dump cutler and get a top 10 QB.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Shouldn't be a problem with the Bear's historical excellence and finding good QBs.

I'll agree with much of what you're saying. I'm not really a fan of Cutler in that I think he's really as good as Brady or Manning or anything like that. All I see is a strong arm, good size, and obvious ability in the pocket, so for me when I reflect on his lack of success here I'm led to consider the talent around him. But you're right to point out that other QBs have made similarly mediocre WR/TE crews better, so I'll probably have to rethink some of what I'm saying.

As far as why they should keep him around, I'd use one of Angelo's phrases here: we know what Cutler's "floor" is. I still believe, at the very least, he's good enough to not sabotage a promising season. He did get to a championship game, and the Bears are something like 17-7 during the past two seasons when he's started. So unless you find your own Luck or Wilson in the draft, or trade for Rodgers, what could be the harm in keeping Cutler around if you're still in win-now mode with a veteran roster?

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

I totally understand that. It may even be the right thinking. Getting rid of Cutler and going after the next guy is high risk/high reward. I just look at the NFL, and even though there are exceptions mostly having to do with teams getting away with mediocre QB play by having a very rare amount of defensive talent such as the Ravens, most of the elite teams have elite QB's. Most elite QB's end up winning a title. Do you take a chance that one of the rookie QB's coming out in a stacked draft is going to be elite knowing he's likely to not be or do we stick with Cutler for another 3-5 years knowing that it's virtually unheard of for a player who wasn't elite before 30 to become elite after the age of 30 for more than one fluke type season. Basically, if you believe that the most likely path for winning a title is an elite QB, can you handle the fact that at this point, if Cutler can't get it done this year, Cutler will almost certainly never be elite, and you have to hope to buck the trend of the NFL that elite QB's win.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You could keep Cutler and draft his replacement in 2014 or 2015, right? I don't think those options are mutually exclusive. And if you're like the Seahawks with Matt Flynn, you won't hesitate to bite the bullet and play the best man for the job, even if you just gave someone crazy paper.

I may disagree with you a bit on elite QBs. There's no doubt you'd want an elite QB, but there have been several Superbowl QBs who weren't regarded as "elite" players at the time, although we can surely go back and forth on what "elite" means in this context. Also, you mentioned the Ravens having mediocre QB play and exceptional defensive talent last year, but I'd have to disagree with you on that. The Ravens were statistically average to below average last year on defense, and won in the playoffs largely due to their ability to create and sustain leads on offense. Going back to non-elite QBs, I'd put Flacco in that class, as well as E. Manning, Kurt Warner (Cardinals), and perhaps Big Ben, just to give you some examples. Subjectively speaking, I don't see how Cutler is worse than these guys in terms of ability, which is why I'd put up with him for now until we reach a clear point of no return.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Eli has thrown for 4,000+ 3 of the last 4 years, and missed it by about 50 yards this year. He's not elite because the competition includes at least 4 future hall of famers that set the bar a little higher than Eli gets to. Warner was pretty awesome in Arizona. Big Ben and Flacco are good comparable players, but for every player that wins with average stats there are plenty who don't with as good or better statistics. Yes, Cutler can put up league average numbers for a starting QB, but we live in a time period where multiple QB's seem to do it as rookies now. This year that may change, but there are multiple QB's in next years draft that I'd take right now and think they could match Cutler's production from last year.

I'm also not sure where I see the Bears in 3 years. I know they are trying to rebuild on the fly, but they still seem quite old to me, and given the question marks around the drafts of the last 2 years, we could be looking at a rebuilding project. Would you rather rebuild with a 33 year old QB or a 23 year old QB?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Yeah, Martz relied too heavily on seven-step drops and didn't take advantage of Cutler's mobility by running sprint outs, roll outs, etc. But this has nothing to do with the fact that Cutler refused to run Martz's offense as designed. He throws to open receivers rather than spots on the field. That screws up timing routes and turns potential big plays into limited gains. It also means that he holds the ball too long. Perhaps, then, some of the problem with Martz's vertical passing game--and the pressure/sacks that came with it--was actually Cutler's inability to be decisive in the pocket after completing his deep drops. This decisiveness is a crucial element of the Martz offense (as it is with the West Coast offense that Cutler failed to run effectively under Ron Turner and will soon be running again under Trestman). By the way, Jon Kitna (!) threw for 4000+ yards in two separate seasons under Martz's direction. His best receiver over that span was Roy Williams, whom you claim couldn't be trusted to run "precise routes." Kitna also made a terrific receiver out of Mike Furrey! Why did Cutler fail to do something similar in Chicago? Aaron Rodgers has become one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL while working with an anemic running game and a porous offensive line. Somehow he has managed to transcend his circumstances to become a great player. Why can't Cutler do something similar and become a good one? Within the dynamics of contemporary football--where young players emerge from the draft every year to amass statistics that are superior to Cutler's--it makes little sense to retain Cutler as the Bears QB.

Finally, why do you assert that it is "slightly reductionist to pin all the blame on Cutler for the bad offense?" Where have I done anything of the sort? You are arguing with a figment of your imagination.

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It's nice that the Bears have gone from quarterbacks that suck and are universally hated to having quarterbacks who are decent and are only loathed about 86% of the time.

The next tier will be consistently solid quarterbacks who are only hated about 3/4ths of the time. Progress!

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I'll concede some of the points you've made here, specifically your comparison of Cutler and Kitna under Martz, Cutler's propensity to hold on to the ball/look for open guys, and Aaron Rodgers overcoming a poor OL. Boilermaker Rick made similar points, and I agree with both of you. The only minor quibble I have here is your point about Roy Williams, who put up big numbers when he was younger - he was done by the time he got to Chicago, and I'm sure you'd agree that he was severely miscast as a no. 1 WR for the Bears.

As for the reductionist claim, you did earlier say this:



So, yes, you did not pin ALL blame on Cutler, that was some bad misreading on my part - my fault. But even given your points about Cutler's failings, do you think it's fair to even place, as you put it, "many of the offense's failures" on his shoulders, considering the OC turnover, and OL/WR/TE misery? To me it seems the offense as philosophy, talent, and coaches has been engulfed in a maelstrom of bad for the last 5-6 years, and as such I'm hesitant to single Cutler out (not saying you have). Maybe some of you can remind me, but I thought much of the game to game narrative last year revolved around Cutler's ability to run around and make something happen when the pocket collapsed, his rapport w/ Marshall, and Tice's simplistic gameplans which vexed zero opposing defensive coordinators. I also recall the offense being handcuffed by the lack of a mid-field threat (TE), a point Emery noted in a postseason press conference, and which became all too evident once Jeffery and Bennett got injured.

I don't think he's a savior or anything, and I'd be totally fine with the Bears drafting a solid prospect next year if it gets to that point. My main point here is that I don't think Cutler is a problem for 2013. Remember, they did get to an NFC Championship game with him, and they are something like 17-7 when he starts the past two seasons. Surely there's something there, despite his many faults?

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

This is a good point. I will not go the B&B route and say best ever but Cutler has been quite good. Shit I would even take Erik Kramer now if he had an O line and a coach with a plan.

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Elections have consequences.

give him a big extension. he hasnt showed any signs of slowing down, and he seems like a guy who is going to stay good well into his mid 30's. focus on the rest of the team.. cutler is gonna do enough to win.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

1)I thought your point about Williams was that he couldn't be trusted to run correct routes? His experience with Martz demonstrates this isn't the case. He dropped the ball in Detroit, too.

2)Yes, I do think it is fair to blame Cutler for many of the offense's failings. The turnover in OCs is largely a product of his personality. He refused to work with Ron Turner and ran him out of here. The same goes for Martz. Then he had a hand in designing the offense under Tice, selected his own QB coach in Jeremy Bates, and still couldn't work with the offensive staff. He is a douche. And yeah, Cutler made some fantastic plays on the run last year when protection disintegrated. But the fact is he also holds the ball too long, so he sometimes is forced to make spectacular plays because he is seemingly incapable of making the routine, obvious throws. Troy Aikman consistently ripped Cutler last year for throwing to Brandon Marshall rather than throwing to the spot where Brandon Marshall was going to be, thereby negating potential big plays. Cutler has worked with limited talent during his tenure in Chicago, but his playing style and attitude have combined to make that talent look worse than it is.

3)Your defense of Cutler by pointing to the team's winning record with him at the helm reminds me of the Kyle Orton days, when Orton's supporters forwarded the same thesis about that sad sack. "He may not have great stats," they said, "but he's a winner!" Cutler's arrival was supposed to mean that we wouldn't have to defend the philosophy of putting a "game manager" in the most important position on the field. Unfortunately, it hasn't--and this is surely one clear sign of Cutler's failure as the Bears QB.

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Comes out to around $15M per. Pretty decent coin for mid-tier quarterbacks. Interesting to see what Cutler will shoot for.