Bears Fully Expect That Jay Cutler Will Be Back With The Team In 2015 According To Sources

(Source) The Chicago Bears fully expect that Jay Cutler will be their quarterback for the 2015 season, according to team sources with direct knowledge of the team’s plans. One source was adamant that there was “absolutely zero truth” to recent reports that Cutler was being actively shopped for a potential trade.Bears coach John Fox and GM Ryan Pace have been publicly noncommittal about Jay Cutler’s status with the team in limited access to the media since they joined the organization in February.

At most, Chicago has been positioned as a passive listener if other teams have interest in any of its players, including Cutler — which is the case for the majority of teams, a source noted.

It is a development that has needed clarification because new Bears coach John Fox and general manager Ryan Pace have been publicly noncommittal about Cutler’s status with the team in limited media access since they joined the organization in February. Fox and Pace still have not publicly endorsed Cutler. But clarification is expected from the Bears in the near future, perhaps as early as this week. Jimmy Clausen was recently signed to return as the team’s backup quarterback.

Cutler’s spotty performance has led to rampant speculation that the franchise was considering cutting him loose either through trade or an outright release. Neither dispatch will occur, sources said. To the contrary, the new staff — including offensive coordinator Adam Gase — has been enthusiastically making plans with a playbook they believe will accentuate Cutler’s strengths with the available talent around him, sources said.

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Alright, let’s have some real talk here. This is the correct move. Now I know some of you will say “Big Cat you’re a Cutler Homer, shut up” fine, go for that, no sweat off my back. But for everyone else who sees the landscape of the NFL for what it’s worth, let’s break it down.

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The Bears, as we all know, had 3 options when it came to Jay Cutler.

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Option 1 – Cut him. What would cutting him have done? Well before Thursday it would have saved 10 million dollars in guaranteed money that would come due for the 2016 season. The Bears still would have had to cut a check for the 15.5 Million this year as well as see their cap number on his deal go from 16.5 million to 19.5 million. Not only that but cutting Jay Cutler leaves you with one ENORMOUS question that basically everyone who hates Cutler still hasn’t adequately answered. Who the hell will be your quarterback? Look around the NFL. The quarterback position is a barren wasteland. Josh McCown just made 11 million dollars guaranteed between this year and last year’s contracts with the Browns and the Bucs all because he played 5 good games with the Bears 2 years ago. Guys like Mark Sanchez are still getting new deals. There just aren’t a lot of options and Jay Cutler, as tough as a year as last year was, is still better than all of the guys that are available. That’s just a fact. Cutting him ultimately left you with a big cap hit, a check to write, and still no Quarterback. And before anyone says, well didn’t you say you should get rid of Brandon Marshall if he won’t be around when the Bears are good again, yes, I did. The difference being in contracts. B-Marsh’s deal and Cutler’s deal are not equal. Moving B-Marsh was a lot easier to do and made more sense from a financial stand point. It has also been widely reported that Brandon had zero people stand up for him in Halas Hall where as Jay is still liked by people inside the building.

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Option 2 – Trading him. I think the Bears obviously kicked the tires on this option. They won’t come out and say it because you can’t do that and then bring a guy back but I’m sure they asked around. The problem with a trade is that it goes against the first rule of Finance, buy low, sell high. Why would you trade Cutler now when you get your smallest possible return? How does that make any sense? Ryan Pace wasn’t going to get ripped off here, that’s an awful precedent to set. Wouldn’t you realistically say to yourself, last year was a complete and utter clusterfuck, odds are that won’t happen again, so if you aren’t sold on him long term at least get his value back up with a bounce back year. Yes you would, because that makes perfect sense.

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Option 3 – Keep him. Cutler is probably the most divisive Chicago athlete in the past 20 years. Some people love him, some people hate him, but everyone has an opinion. At the end of the day though, when you combine the fact that there are no better Quarterbacks out there and he is statistically due for a bounce back year why wouldn’t you do this? This team has a million holes. Paying guys to walk and taking an increased cap hit is going in the wrong direction. You bring back Cutler this year, you hope things turn around and you rebuild the Defense. I trust Ryan Pace, partly because I think he’s a smart guy who understands this league and partly because I have no choice. Either way, do me a favor and cue the motherfucking music, the band is getting back together. (Shoutout to @Magic_Uno for the song)

PS

If something happens in the 23rd hour here, well then you already know what we’ll be doing.