OT: Bears lock up Cutler through 2020
In a surprising move the Bears have locked up Cutler with a 7 year deal. The first 3 years of the contract call for him to make upwards of 18 million per year. I thought this was petty surprising as Cutler has been relatively mediocre thus far, and missed time to injuries this season. I thought the Bears would draft a QB in this years draft while looking to move in a new direction going forward. I have to believe many Bears fans are upset with this decision.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24395318/bears-sign-qb-jay-cutler-to-sevenyear-contract
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^
Good (And I say that as a Lions fan...)
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^
You think Stafford is worth more money than Cutler?
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
...with the sole reason being that Stafford doesn't pout like a little baby as much as Cutler does (I kid, I kid).
Seriously though, get a competent QB coach that can fix a few mechanic quirks and tune up his decision making ability, I think the ceiling is higher for Matthew than it is for Jay...especially because Cutler is increasingly more injury prone.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
After five years in the league, you really think Stafford's mechanical quirks and decision making are going to get better?
Stafford's a fine QB, but he's never going to be elite. Sort of like lots of other QBs you should be happy to have (Ryan, Eli Manning, Flacco, Cutler, Rivers, Romo, etc.)
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:00 PM ^
Considering Stafford flat out refused to work with his own QB coach (Not his thing) those problems aren't going anywhere. Not that the Lions have done Stafford a ton of favors from a coaching perspective, but Cutler's got a coach he likes and lots of help around him. Also, he hasn't been as injured as you think, and with the much-improved OL in front of him, I think he'll be able to stay healthier.
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
I was unaware that Stafford has been so stubborn to work on his form, that definitely negatively affects my opinion of him.
However, Cutler has had what, 3 concussions already, and has missed significant time in each of the past 3 seasons. The guy is flat out injury prone. With Marshall, Jeffrey and Forte, he's got more weapons than Stafford and can probably find a little more success in his current situation than Stafford can in his. But I just don't think Cutler is going to be around as a consistent starter for the Bears longer than Stafford will be with Lions. I may be wrong, but it's my uneducated opinion from what I've seen out of both teams.
Regardless, one thing we can certainly agree on is the Bears and Lions have it better than the Vikings, but nowhere near as good as the Pack.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:10 PM ^
as a real thing.
stafford would probably have a ton of concussions too, except he flits out of the pocket at the the tiniest of tiny whiff of pressure.
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^
I do. I would love to see what Stafford could do with a legit No. 2 opposite Johnson and a more dependable running game (Bush /Bell are a good combo, but not near the level of Forte).
I would not expect Cutler to be successful if he had to depend on a single (albeit, an amazing) target and little ability to run to set-up the pass.
But, Cutler has the tools to be successful and he has no excuses. I hope that in 4 years we don't realize that the excuses for Stafford just hid his inability to throw sidearm INTs into the chests of DEs.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:14 PM ^
the combo of bush/bell brings more to the table than just matt forte. bb got 1600 yards on the ground and 1000 through the air. forte put up damn near 2000 by himself, but bush only added 250 total yards.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^
Jeffery wasn't a real #2 yet, we had no tight ends, and the OL was a tire fire that rivaled Michigan's. And Cutler still won 10 games by throwing everything at Brandon Marshall.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:55 PM ^
and tillman, urlacher and briggs dominating on defense with melton and peppers...
bears had like 7? defensive touchdowns the first half of the season and were just crushing people. then they had a lions-esque collapse in the second half once the defense couldnt maintain its dominance and they needed cutler's help to win some games.
wins are still the worst way to measure a QB, its a team sport.
here are the bears statistics from 2012 from wikipedia:
Statistical league rankings[edit]
- Total Offense (YPG): 310.6 yds (28th NFL)
- Passing (YPG): 187.4 yds (29th NFL)
- Rushing (YPG): 123.1 yds (10th NFL)
- Points (PPG): 23.4 (16th NFL)
- Total Defense (YPG): 315.6 yds (5th NFL)
- Passing (YPG): 213.9 yds (8th NFL)
- Rushing (YPG): 101.7 yds (8th NFL)
- Points (PPG): 17.3 (3rd NFL)
all the bears fans i know dismiss stafford because he has Megatron as a reciever and love cutler now that he has marshall and jeffrey and bennett to throw to. neither is an elite qb but both have rocket arms and need WR talent around them to succeed
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:54 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
can't tell if this is a blessing or a curse.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
Trestman does good work with QBs but I'm surprised any team would sign an older QB to a long term big money deal when Rookie contracts are relatively cheap and allow for more money to spent on complimentary offensive players and defense. Not every QB can take guys in off the street and win 12 games like Tom Brady can.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
Rookies often suck. Sure, if you can land Andrew Luck and sign him to a rookie deal, that's great. If you're drafting where the Bears are, there's a pretty good chance you get a Christian Ponder or a Brandon Weeden.
There's no reason to believe that Cutler when provided talent which has finally been assembled for him, can't have an Eli Manning or Joe Flacco type playoff run. Signing him was certainly better than any Bears alternative.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:59 PM ^
cutler has broken like all the bears passing records in 5 years despite getting injured a couple times. they have an awful track record with qbs and already have all the pieces around cutler to succeed. they need to keep him as long as they can
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:24 AM ^
Good for them.
He can make all the throws needed for them to win.
At least that's what I've been told.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^
This is good news for all the Lions fans!!
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:29 AM ^
Jay Cutler ain't even allowed at my houe anymore after he pissed in my vase I had purchased from the Ming dynasty.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:29 AM ^
18 mill per year for Cutler....LOL
Good news to start 2014 for Lions fans. Now time to hire a head coach with half a brain!
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:30 AM ^
Hip Hip Hooray!
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
This puts Cutler under contract until he is 37 and pays him a TON of money early on. I just don't think his numbers justify the contract. Until this year, Cutler's numbers have been on a steady decline across the board, and even this year he threw 19 TD's to 12 INT's, while guiding his team to a 5-5 record when he was under center. Josh McCown had them at 3-3 while he was seeing the snaps in Cutler's abscence. McCown also had a 13-1 TD/INT statline. They would have benefited from rolling with McCown on a short term low paying contract, and used the additional money elsewhere.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:37 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^
I don't know...the defense was aging out (Urlacher retired), and the offense was going backward because Angelo (the former GM) could draft CB, DL, and LB, but not OL or WR to save his life. Trestman did a good job this year with the O. The D was disappointing, but the Bears lost their three best defensive players (Melton, Tillman, and Briggs) for almost a combined 32 games. Combine that with dumping capable DL for salary cap reasons (at least with Idonije), the Bears were left without DTs and ended up playing converted DEs at DT (sound familiar, fellow Michigan fans?).
If the Bears can restock at DT and DB, and get Briggs healthy (Tillman is often injured for a few games at least--he plays very physical and he is getting older), the team will be very good next year. The OL is young and very surprisingly good, the WRs are beasts, Matt Forte is playing at a high level, and the scheme seems to work for Cutler.
I feel pretty good about the Bears' future, and the new regime seems to be starting off well.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
Suckers!!
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^
As a Bears fan, I am disappointed in this deal. I'd much rather they have spent the money shoring up the defense, as that was the main problem this past year. What a waste of money.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
It's easier to shore up a defense with inexpensive free agents and youth than it is to replace a starting QB. In the NFL today, you can't win with a bad QB. Cutler's in the realm of your Eli Manning's and Joe Flacco's. Bears would be very unlikely to find a QB replacement that would allow them to win, even if they could magically shore up the defense through free agent signings.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
already re-signed Timmy Jennings and Matt Slauson, meaning the OL will stay intact and the secondary will be OK. Now if they don't replace Conte.... we've got problems.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
As a Bears fan I'm quite tossed on this decision. On the one hand I was hoping they would toss the dice, let him go and either go with McCown or draft someone.
But, on the other hand Cutler does play well at times. He seems to be grasping the new offense and sometimes it is better to go with what you know you have than to gamble on an unknown. With the Bears draft pick placement they certainly wouldn't have been able to get anyone ready to go without trading up and that's not something the Bears are known to do.
This also tells me the front office thinks they still have the roster to compete now for a Super Bowl rather than rebuild. Only issue is with the defense getting long in the tooth that window of opportunity is quickly closing. Need to start getting younger on that side of the ball quickly.
Not happy about the length of the contract and I predict he will either retire before it's completed or they will release him at some point down the line in about 4-5 years.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
"Does play well at times" is one hell of a damnation with faint praise. I get wanting stability at the quarterback position, always a worthwhile goal, but I think the Bears are overpaying by a lot.
I do agree, if Cutler is actually employed by the Bears in 2020 I'll be very surprised. Just the way NFL contracts are.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
As a Bears fan I hate this move. But at least I'll have a few more years of smokinjaycutler to look forward to now. No way he makes it to year 7 but 4 or 5 more years of him pouting on the sidelines makes me a sad panda.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
hope that no other team would be willing to pay him that much money, and negotiate for a better deal. and if a team did give him a payday, cut their losses and prepare a plan B.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
Just a few thoughts:
Cutler broke the Bears CAREER passing records held by Sid Luckman this year. That's how long we've had terrible QB play. Do you other Bears fans not remember how awful we have been at QB?
Cutler will be playing with the same OC 2 years in a row for the first time since Denver. And his OC will not be Mike Tice.
Cutler's new deal will pay him LESS than Flacco, Rodgers, and Ryan, making it a pretty decent deal for the team
Cutler's had a real offensive coach for about 1 year. With Marshall, Bennet, Jeffery, Bennet and Forte plus a good OL, the sky really is the limit for this offense.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:19 PM ^
As a Bears fan, I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I don't have an issue with this move and actually like it. A lot of people point to Cutler's numbers since he's been in Chicago compared to Denver, but his Oline prior to this year has been horrid. He's been beat up over and over, they had a Mon or Sun night game a few years ago against the Giants where he was sacked like 10 times, and this year the line was significantly better due to great picks by the Bears in Long and Mills, plus the free agent aquisitions of Slauson and Bushrod. Plus, prior to this year, he was in a constant flux of offensive systems like Martz and Tice that were long developing plays, unlike Trestman's West Coast scheme. He's got all of the physical tools in a quarterback, the knock on him has been his decision making, but a great deal of that looks to be due to the lack of protection / playcalling in past years (sounds vaguely familiar to me being a Michigan fan). They have the offense to win a Super Bowl and probably had the defense prior to the rash of injuries (Tillman, Briggs, Melton, etc). The NFL is a quarterback league and the teams with high turnover rate at quarterback typically do not tend to do well: See Cleveland Browns. Hopefully Cutler stays healthy going forward and continues to flourish in Trestman's system, and they put together a younger defense.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
Not that surprising to us who actually follow the Bears here in the city. I love the deal, 18M per is just about right, removes a question mark, and allows them to address the defense and only the defense in the draft. I'm actually laughing at Lions fans who think having a coach and a qb is a worse situation than not having a coach with a qb who refuses to address his mechanics. Smokin' Jay >> Side-armed Stafford.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^
I couldn't agree more, they just signed Fiametta and Gould in the last week, Forte got his big contract last year, and the Oline and skill positions are under contract I believe for atleast one more year. If they do anything but spend almost all of their picks on defense, I would be disappointed. I would love to see them land a terrific young safety / cornerback prospect. Our current Safeties are definitely not the future if they want to be a Super Bowl contender.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:44 PM ^
I'd take that draft in a heartbeat. Probably won't happen, but one can hope. Good news it sounds like a fairly deep draft this year, so hopefully they do well. I was joking this past Sunday with a friend of mine who's a Browns fan, asking if Joe Haden's contract is coming up soon. In the least I'd like if they could land a top safety prospect, if not through free agency, as our cornerbacks are still serviceable, with or without Tillman. I can't say as much for Conte.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
Wow, that was stupid. Did they miss the part of this season where Josh McCown proved that in their scheme with their athletes, the Bears can get the same or better production out of the QB position at a fraction of the cost?
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
I do not think I would lock him up that long. It is what it is though. Bears must like more than most.
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
Players in the NFL basically have zero leverage. The guaranteed money is the only thing that matters. They can cut him whenever they want. Great deal by the Bears.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:09 PM ^
I don't get it, Chicago, but go ahead and Romo if you want to.
January 2nd, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
if you extrapolate cutlers stats out to a 16 game season he ends up at 15th in passing with 3812 yds and 28tds which is actually pretty close to romo...