The futures of the Chicago Bears, General Manager Phil Emery and Coach Marc Trestman are now all tied to franchise quarterback Jay Cutler. Whether you’re a Jay hater or a Cutty lover, for the next three to seven years the quarterback of the Bears will be married to Cutler.
Jay Cutler has been a polarising figure throughout his NFL career with many pundits of the media disliking his pouty looking face, preppy frat boy stylings and his sometimes poor demeanour during games and press conferences.
But the year of 2013 saw a change in Cutler and he finally looked comfortable being a franchise quarterback of a storied NFL team. He was smiling through games, dressing in suits for press conferences, doing promo work and more openly discussing his on and off the field life.
On his radio show The Jay Cutler Show he mentions that he finally feels good in life, he’s a father now (to the Cutlet) and enjoying it, he’s with a coach and offensive coordinator that understand him and he’s with a team that are supporting him.
Bears General Manager Phil Emery on announcing the seven year signing said that his “leadership, his improvement, his display of toughness” is why Cutler in 2013 was going to be re-signed.
I for one am very happy to have Cutler back as the Bears quarterback, because I saw a change in his play and demeanour this year as well.
I also believe that if it hadn’t been for the groin injury he suffered he would have had his statistically best season yet. Cutler already holds almost all the Bears passing records which in itself is a testament that he was able to survive the Chicago media and quarterback starved fan-base.
People will point out that Cutler has not been successful in Chicago and why would you sign him to such a long deal.
Here are the reasons I would give:
– One, it’s the NFL, seven years does not really mean seven years, it means up to seven years but more likely three unless everything goes well.
– Two, in the past five seasons he has had four different offensive coordinators but has still put together an impressive record of 39-28 (0.582) as a starter. This record is far better than rival NFC North quarterback Matthew Stafford 24-37 (0.393) or that of twice winning Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning 43-37 (0.538).
Stafford and Manning are both classed as upper tier quarterbacks but not elite and are players that most NFL teams would love. Cutler has a higher winning record than both but gets little recognition for his efforts.
Doubters will also point out that the Bears paid too much, $126 million with $54 million guaranteed.
The $126 million, like the seven years, is nonsensical. It’s the amount that counts against the cap which will be important and with Cutlers very clear comments of he’s not chasing money, it will no doubt be a cap friendly deal.
From recent reading, it looks like the Bears are one of the better positioned teams for 2014 with approximately $42 million in cap space which should leave plenty of money to help fix the huge holes on defence.
With Cutler being drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2006, he was often compared to legend John Elway and had to live under that shadow while playing in Denver.
What many forget was that Elway had very pedestrian figures for most of his early career (10 years) with near equal Touchdown to interception ratio and it wasn’t until the 1993 season where he really started to turn things around and build a truly good offence and win the Super Bowl twice.
Perhaps, now 20 years later in 2013 it was Jay Cutler’s turn to start to step out of mediocrity and build a great offence and lead them to future Super Bowls.
This is probably just the fanciful thoughts of a deluded Chicago fan, but the Bears are building a very powerful offence and Cutler has just been given the key to run it.
Is Cutler elite? No, not yet. Is he a franchise quarterback that going forward can consistently bring the Bears a winning record, play off opportunities and one day the Super Bowl?
I think so.
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