The biggest story involving the Chicago Bears should be the recent hire of a new general manager and coach. Or it should be the sorry state of the defense. Any number of things would do, but instead the biggest headline still involves quarterback Jay Cutler's future with the franchise.
The team reportedly endured "buyer's remorse" after signing Cutler to a massive contract extension worth upwards of $126 million last offseason. While the embattled QB didn't have the worst season of his career from a statistical standpoint, Chicago's offense still badly underachieved given the talent they have on that side of the ball. As a result, rumors are swirling that the Bears are doing everything they can to move on from Cutler.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport does not believe that is the case, however.
"From what I gather, there's a much better chance of them keeping Cutler now than trading him just because they have some really strong guys to work with him," he said.
That's true, the Bears overhauled the coaching staff and front office. Ex Denver-Broncos head coach John Fox is in as top dog, and he brought his offensive coordinator with him. That bodes well for Cutler.
"It would be tough for me to imagine a better hire than Adam Gase," Rapoport said. "Not just because John Fox has worked with him for the last couple years and because he knows him so well, but this is a guy who fixes quarterbacks and makes them viable however they are. It's not always pretty. Sometimes it's tough love. Adam Gase is incredibly intense and incredibly smart when it comes to X's and O's."
And Gase won't be working alone when it comes to the arduous task of fixing Cutler.
"For [Bears quarterbacks coach] Dowell Loggains, he's actually pretty close with Jay Cutler," Rapoport said. "They've known each other for some years. They've spoken on again and off again throughout some seasons so the situation really does seem as positive as it could be for Jay Cutler."
It seems to finally be time to put all of the Jay Cutler trade rumors to bed. Chicago has a coaching staff in place that believes in Cutler and has a proven track record of success with quarterbacks. For better or worse, the Bears are riding with Cutler in 2015.
