I agree.

Now the Cutler haters wish the Bears would have franchised tagged him for 3 consecutive years at $60M instead of signing a long term deal that guarantees 3 at $54M. That is really sound advice - I'm not sure why every team wouldn't do that with their long term QB.

Let's make a list of teams that have already done that with their QB:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.


The GM's in this league are all over paid! They can't see this simple alternative!

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In reality, that is what New Orleans did. Though, the last year of Drew Brees franchise eligibility was rolled into a contract that he earned at that time.

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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!

No, I think we "haters" would have preferred a year-by-year evaluation, which was entirely their right under the system. If he is mediocre and hurt again next year, the Bears could have parted ways with no long-term penalty.

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Which hater suggested that? I think most "Cutler haters" aren't really haters at all. Just guys who realize what he has been and mostly likely always will be. Franchising him for a season while looking for an upgrade isn't some crazy idea. You can always break the bank if you want to.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

No - you've mixed up your words - tell us what they actually did "in reality" - did they franchise him for 3 consecutive years?

Nobody ever, not 1 team, not 1 QB - has ever had that done. I wonder why?

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I used the term "Cutler haters" very loosely. I probably should have said "contract haters".

Why didn't ATL, Baltimore, Dallas or any other team do this? Detroit? They haven't done that either because it is, in fact, a crazy idea. The cap hit for those consecutive years would be worse than the long term deal.

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You're advocating doing what the Bears have done for 20 years - while at the same time paying another guy a lot of $$$. Do I have that right?
That doesn't solve the #1 goal of all personnel guys around he league. Find yourself a #1, long term QB.

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I'm not suggesting that. I don't think the plan should be to marry Jay Cutler. And that's what they've done. In fact, they'll probably be married to him longer than Kristin Cavallari.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Maybe because those QBs had posted superlative seasons (either team-based or individually), were young with potential, and were durable. Cutler has none of that.

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No, Brees was only franchised twice. It wasn't consecutive, but I really don't know why that matters since being in consecutive years doesn't change anything.

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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!

He was outplayed by his backup. There's no getting around that cold, hard, brutal fact.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Jay was JUST ABOUT to BUST OUT when he got hurt

It is desirable to have a long-term QB, but the economics of that may be changing. Wouldn't it be better to be able to find a Russell Wilson every few years and plug him into a great system and be able to spend the massive QB money elsewhere?

If McCown had performed like Caleb Hanie, I don't think there would be nearly the angst over this contract.

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Definitely. It's just not desirable to have Jay Cutler.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

The funniest thing about this thread is the idea that the Bears don't want Cutler.

Of course the contract doesn't make sense if the Bears are trying to figure out how to get out of it in the 1st year.

They don't want to! They like him and structured a deal to try to keep him for a long time. Hate it if you want to but they know Cutler's floor. In a bad offense he's won 58% of his games. I'm sorry he won 1% of the games and the team won the other 57%. However you want to look at it.

They think he'll be better with continuity in the offense for the first time in 5 years for him and some solid weapons around him.

Peyton Manning's best career year was his 7th. He improved significantly in his 7th year.

Drew Brees best year was his 9th or 11th.

Tom Brady was his 8th.

The thought that a QB never gets better after his 7th or 8th year is silly.

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You know me like that.

So you expect Cutler to be better? I guess we'll see.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

You just listed three hall of famers.

The truly silly thing is EXPECTING a guy to play at a higher level than he ever has after he's given you 8 years of evidence.


Those three guys didnt become different guys in those years. They were always good.

He's already better. I expect him to continue to get better.

You expect him to not improve with a full offseason in the same offense with the weapons he has? Has he ever had the same offense 2 years in a row here? I don't think he has.

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You know me like that.

I intentionally listed Hall of Famers to show that even HOFers improved after 6 or 7 seasons.

Brady never had a QB rating over 92.6 before he was 30. He's had 5 since.

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You know me like that.

In Chicago, he had 2 years in the Martz offense (2010 and 2011).

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When we talk about top quarterbacks we never talk about their offensive coordinators. Did Peyton Manning have a problem moving over to Denver? WHAT ABOUT HIS CONTINUITY??????? Just another Cutler excuse. I don't understand the urge to elevate this obviously ordinary player.

Why don't you expect McCown to get better?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

What do you mean even?

Any examples of average QB's becoming great after 8 years?


Rich Gannon is one

Tell us what you expect then. How good will he be next year? If you have a problem with people thinking he won't get better then step out on your own.

I think that is my biggest problem with that stupid "Cutler hater" thing. I've been called that since he got here, and mostly because I expected him to be what he has been. The "Cutler haters" have been pretty accurate. Now here we go again putting Cutler in the same conversation as Brees, Brady, and Manning but if I say he isn't anything close to them and never will be I'm just a hater.

So please, just once, tell us that Cutler will be elite next year, or throw out some expectations, and then we can see just how much we "hate Jay Cutler" of it's just an easy thing to say.

This is an open invitation to anyone. Predict what Jay Cutler will do next year. Yards, touchdowns, interceptions, records, injuries, playoff performances, Super Bowl victories. Will he outperform Stafford? Will he outperform Romo? Will he outperform Ryan?

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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!

Peyton Manning is one of the best QBs ever. Hard to suggest anything he can do, Cutler can.

Also, read this:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/882 ... er-broncos

Ooh, I smell a long-term sig bet. Double or nothing?

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You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

And the main reason he never plays in the same offense two years in a row is because he keeps getting his offensive coordinators fired.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

The argument was that he is who he is and you can't expect a guy to get better at this point in his career.

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You know me like that.

I'm going to go ahead and say Mike Tice got himself fired.

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You know me like that.

I love Cutler and I don't think he is in that grouping. He's not in their league.

Tell us what we should expect for Cutler next year.

_________________
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!