At last the Chicago Bears have made it official. Thanks to a leak by NFL insider Jeff Darlington, the team is shopping veteran quarterback Jay Cutler. It's still somewhat of a surreal situation for many fans. The franchise has never had a quarterback tenured this long. At least not in the Super Bowl era. To see it coming to an end after eight years is difficult to process.
https://twitter.com/JeffDarlington/status/834179697315545089
Cutler will depart Chicago as the franchise leader in passing yards (23,443), touchdown passes (154), completion percentage (61.8), and wins (52). That's an accomplishment, and an impressive one. Especially given the trail of devastation and sorrow others at that position have left in their wake with this organization.
The problem is it was his 109 interceptions and 65 fumbles that finally wore the organization down. His inconsistency was too much after three GMs and head coaches. The only question left is what team will look to give him that last chance to make something good out of his otherwise disappointing career?
There are a number of quarterback-needy teams that could easily talk themselves into making a run at Cutler. His contract is no longer a big issue in terms of guaranteed money or signing bonuses. A team would be free to cut him at any time with very little salary cap ramifications. It's just a matter of figuring who will make a play for him.
A number of prominent sources have reached out to their connections looking for information on that exact subject. Surprisingly they've been hearing one team mentioned quite often more than others.
https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/834189522116165632
https://twitter.com/NFLFilmStudy/status/834189208457736192
This shouldn't be a surprise on several levels. The New York Jets are already well-known for being a landing spot for former veteran Bears. Brandon Marshall was traded there in 2015 and Matt Forte signed with them as a free agent last year. GM Mike Maccagnan seemed to like the style of players previous Bears GMs Phil Emery and Jerry Angelo favored. Cutler falls within that group.
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Then there is the simple need of the position. The Jets have a young quarterback in development with Christian Hackenberg. However, there are rumblings that the former Penn State grad is far from ready to play. He needs more time. The best way for New York to buy it would be with a veteran option.
Cutler has experience finding ways to be productive despite starting in a new offense. To top it off Jeremy Bates, the teams' new quarterbacks coach, held the same position when Cutler was on the rise in Denver. That connection could be a major key for this to happen. It may sound like a hilarious joke to some, but it shouldn't.
Cutler turns 34-years old in April. He's known to be a quick healer, so the shoulder problem form last year shouldn't be an issue. By rights he should have 2-3 good years left in him. It a question of whether the Jets can get a quality offensive line and decent weapons around him in a short enough time span for it to matter.
Odds are the Bears would be looking at a fifth or sixth round pick in any deal. Though if that happens New York has some work to do with their salary cap structure.
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