Emma: The End Appears Near For Jay Cutler And The Bears
Feb 24, 2017 22:53:20 GMT -6
riczaj01 likes this
Post by mpbears68 on Feb 24, 2017 22:53:20 GMT -6
Don't know about Romo but Cutler is due a sizable roster bonus (think it's $2.5m or so) at the start of the new league year which is only 2-3 weeks away. Since the team has already informed him privately and announced publicly that he's done in Chicago, Pace has to pull off a trade or release him by then. No way he's going to pay the RB (which also hits the cap) for someone that no longer has any chance to be on the September roster.
I've become so jaded and fed up with Cutler that I hope he gets the humiliation of being traded to some shit place like buffalo for a measly 7th round pick in 2021. For years I defended the guy (and there were some legitimate defenses to be made) out of hope. But he never fulfilled his promise at all and I put that mostly on HIM at this point. He obviously has the rare physical talentecessary. He went to Vanderbilt and seems well spoken so I think it's safe to assume he's a reasonably intelligent guy.
That leaves only one real explanation for why he failed to become a star QB in 8 years worth of chances in Chicago: he didn't put in the amount of work and preparation necessary to develop and improve his game. I've come to believe the guy is basically lazy, especially on the vital mental aspects of plating the position. For example, how many times has he been told and coached about holding the ball too low? Yet he never seemed to take that simple and obviously correct piece of advice seriously which is a big reason why he's been a fumbling machine for 8+ years.
Any last vestige of hope I had for him disappeared in that Tampa game this year. It was classic Cutler against a not very good team to boot. 2 stupid picks and a sack fumble. I'm done. Should have been years ago. The guy doesn't get it and doesn't seem to care that he doesn't get it.
As far as his contract, he just signed it. He didn't write it. When traded he just accepted it. He didn't deal the draft picks. Others did that so don't hang that on him.
The idea that he doesn't give the effort is ridiculous when you see him on the field. The guy clearly wants to win as evidenced by his play which is often to the point of reckless with the hits he takes. There have never been any reports that Cutler didn't do his due diligence in preparing for games or was lazy. Those are just emotional excuses for why he didn't play like you wanted him to play. He's not shouting at his teammates or bumping them with his shoulder because he'd rather be at home drinking a beer.
This organization has made mistake after mistake with talent, leadership, and coaching, and yet Cutler continues to get a ridiculous amount of the ire for it since he doesn't consistently play like Drew Brees despite these problems. The guy even had a winning record right up until Trestman and Tucker of the Last Placed Defense took over and the team's record without Cutler was just abysmal.
Cutler has his pluses and minuses but he has never been the thing that has been holding this team back, whatever over emotional fans may believe. I would love to have a HOF QB instead of Cutler too but I'm not going to blame him for the team's lack of one.
A) I never said one word about his contract. In fact, I defended it at the time when few others did. It proved to be a massive mistake because he's never consistently elevated his game above .500 and I could care less about his tiffs with Webb and Mike Tice (both of whom deserved it).
B) I have no doubt that Cutler is a competitor on the field and "wants to win". My God, I should certainly hope so but that's not nearly enough. Its pretty much the bare minimum actually. I'm sure Von Paulus fiercely wanted to win at Stalingrad too. Show me how this guy--someone we all acknowledge has one in a million physical gifts as a QB--has ever "taken the next step" in consistently improving his game. He's been coached for years on timing, pocket awareness, ball security, reading of defenses, and decision-making yet continued time and time again to make the same dumb mistakes that cost games. Is he just plain stupid? I doubt it. So what is it then? What do you call that? Mentally unprepared and disengaged?
C) No one denies that the Bears higher-ups in the organization share a lot of blame for its lack of success. I defended Cutler for years on that very basis. But at some point you have to stop making excuses and face reality. Jay just isn't getting the job done and won't ever lead a team to a SB win barring a surrounding cast chock full of 16 All-Pros. He's a career 500 quarterback with only one postseason win (over a 7-9 playoff team) who almost never in his career has strung more than a couple of solidly impressive performances together consecutively. Considering his widely acknowledged high level of physical talent, even by his worst critics, I'd say that's a FAIL that falls squarely on him. He will be remembered as a player mostly for squandered potential.
The 7th round pick thing was said sarcastically but that's about all he's worth in the open market right now despite having a very reasonable contract for a starting QB going forward that has no guaranteed money left. That ought to tell you something. I doubt Pace will even get that for him and he will end up be released for nothing in return. Bears teams over the last 8 years have had plenty of issues no doubt, but if you think Cutler's soul-sucking picks and fumbles didn't "hold the team back" time and time again then I'm afraid your opinion is distinctly in the minority.