All Signs Point To Chicago Bears Riding It Out With Jay Cutler
By Erik Lambert
Dec 15, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) in their game against the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Jay Cutler has a lot of enemies amongst Chicago Bears fans, which is why the cries for his removal regardless of his big contract have been trumpeted for months. Nobody knows what new GM Ryan Pace plans to do with the 31-year old quarterback, but if one were to follow the signs, it’s not hard to predict that in all likelihood Cutler will get one more shot.
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Sign #1 – John Fox and Vic Fangio hires
Pace is a smart man. If he does his homework, he might realize Cutler has shown he can win football games. The key isn’t how strong an offense he has around him, it’s whether or not he has a good defense to lean on. Between 2010 and 2012 when the Bears defense ranked 4th, 14th and 3rd in scoring defense respectively — Cutler was 27-13 as a starter.
There in lay the logic behind the hires of head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Both have long histories of producing some quality defensive units. The thinking is clearly that they will try to rebuild what has been the worst group in Bears history into something more formidable so they can better handle the inevitable Cutler turnovers.
Sign #2 – Dowell Loggains arrival
Most will point to the hiring of young, hotshot offensive coordinator Adam Gase as the key to turning Jay around, but in reality the key hire the team may have made was bringing in quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains. The 34-year old came into the league with the Tennessee Titans and quickly worked his way up the ladder to offensive coordinator in 2012. However, the key here is that Loggains has a relationship with Cutler.
It turns out Jay actually lobbied the Bears to hire him back in 2010 as quarterbacks coach but the attempt was blocked by Tennessee. Loggains was one of the big voices in the room trying to get the Titans to draft Cutler in 2006 over Vince Young.
Sign #3 – Weak quarterback draft class
If hiring a buddy Jay Cutler has wanted to work with for years wasn’t enough, then the simple fact that the NFL draft gives the Chicago Bears few options to replace him does. The 2015 class is a rather weak one. There are only two QBs expected to go in the 1st round and after that the drop-off is pretty steep. This isn’t the year to go hunting for a franchise quarterback, which would explain why the Bears are already taking steps to make things work with Cutler.