The Chicago Bears are very likely to cut Jay Cutler this off-season and two different sources are expecting him to re-unite with the Shanahan family. According to the report from Jason Cole, Cutler is the third option for the 49ers after Jimmy Garoppolo and Kirk Cousins making his chances of heading to San Francisco very realistic. Garoppolo will be heavily pursued by many teams and Cousins isn't expected to leave Washington.
The former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator, and current 49ers head coach, Kyle Shanahan will be forced to expedite his search for a starting quarterback after losing an extra five weeks of off-season in preparation for the Super Bowl. Largely responsible for Matt Ryan's MVP award and the Falcons' 419.7 yard per game average, Shanahan will need to find a veteran take the reigns while he uses San Francisco's $80+ million in cap space to fill in the other gaping holes on the team. In addition to quarterback the 49ers desperately need interior offensive lineman and an outside linebacker. Safe to say they could use some receivers too.
If you remember, Cutler was drafted by Shanahan's father, Mike, eleventh overall in the 2006 draft. To this day, Cutler's best season as a professional came under Mike Shanahan in 2008 when he threw for over 4,500 yards and made the only Pro Bowl appearance of his career. That's largely why Kyle's father was previously linked to the Chicago Bears head coaching vacancy.
As one of the most coveted coordinators of the off-season, Kyle Shanahan heads to the off-season wearing a lot of the blame for Atlanta's dramatic Super Bowl loss to Tom Brady and the Patriots. After a miraculous catch by Julio Jones on the sideline late in the game, the Falcons attempted to pass the ball which resulted in a huge sack knocking them out of field goal range. A range that their kicker had only missed ONCE from all season. Analysts everywhere are questioning why the Falcons chose to pass in that situation and Shanahan was the one calling the plays.
With a possible Shanahan-Cutler reunion in sight, all signs point to the 49ers pursuing a veteran quarterback to lead them into 2017. With the loss of Colin Kaepernick and a 2-14 record, the new head coach will have to act fast to change the direction of the franchise.
And who would better to do it than Jay Cutler? (insert joke here)
One thing worth mentioning is Cutler's 2015 success with former Bears' offensive coordinator Adam Gase. He threw for one of his lowest interception totals in a single season and a career high 92.3 QB rating. The current head coach of the Dolphins is considered quite similar to Kyle Shanahan making Cutler's chances of success as a member of the 49ers somewhat favorable.
A reunion with Shanahan makes too much sense to ignore, and Cutler just might be a decent quarterback in his new home, either way it's good to see the Chicago Bears expected to move in another direction. Finally.
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