There’s a saying in the National Football League- “new regimes mean new quarterbacks.” The phrase applies to new head coaches or new general managers; and sometimes when you get a combo platter at those positions. We’re in year two of the General Manager Ryan Pace/Head Coach John Fox era for the Chicago Bears.
Pace/Fox didn’t get to bring in their own signal caller when they took over because there was still a ton of money owed to Jay Cutler at the time.
That’s not going to be an issue in 2017, as Cutler has now been paid all $54 million of his guaranteed money, on that seven year $124 million contract.
We’ve seen zero progress in the Pace/Fox rebuild. We understand that their roster rehabilitation project will require a tear down first, then a rebuild. We’ve seen the Bears send off a lot of talented offensive players in the past seven years, a.k.a. the Jay Cutler era. The list includes but is not limited to: Greg Olsen, Martellus Bennett, Brandon Marshall and Matt Forte.
All of those guys are still highly productive in other places, while Cutler led teams continue to struggle. To be fair, the Bears did try to trade Cutler during 2015 NFL Draft week, but couldn’t move him. Reportedly Tennessee (Cutler has a home in Nashville) was interested, but changed their minds.
Pace/Fox need to make some kind of change this offseason, because clearly what’s going on now is not working at all. They need to make a move to stop more and more of their fans from checking out.
Now Jay Cutler isn’t getting along with his coaches. We’ve heard this song before; just now with a new singer.
CBS Sports reported that Cutler has “fallen out of favor” with John Fox and other coaches and that the team may stick with Hoyer once Cutler’s thumb is healed. Whether it happens now or the end of the season, the relationship seems to be dissolving for good, which it should. When the Bears and Cutler officially cut ties, his era will be defined by many words, some of which are not appropriate for this column. Here’s the first word that comes to my mind: nothingness. Chicago has been spinning its wheels for seven years with Cutler as quarterback.
More from Ian Rapoport, NFL Network, Sunday Morning before the loss to the Colts:
“I’m told this is Brian Hoyer’s job to win today. John Fox essentially said this a couple of weeks ago: if Hoyer keeps winning it’s hard to make a change. I’m told they will not make a change if Hoyer keeps winning. They love the way the offense is running, they love what Hoyer is doing now and if he continues to have success he will stay in there.
Now, Jay Cutler should be back soon from this sprained thumb; three weeks was the initial timeline, it has now been three weeks. It’s important to remember this front office did not draft Jay Cutler; they also tried to trade him in the draft a couple of years back. They’ve never quite been sold on him. The door is very much open for Brian Hoyer today.”
Obviously, the Colts won and the Bears lost, but it’s time for Chicago to make a big, bold move next year. The Chicago Bears have not drafted a quarterback with a top five overall pick since Jim McMahon #5 overall in 1982. That certainly worked out alright. The last time they took a QB in the top 15 was Cade McNown #12 overall in 1999. That obviously did not work out.
You can be sure the Bears will have a very high draft pick this April; so it’s time to go out and select that franchise signal caller. Maybe it’s Deshaun Watson from Clemson; or DeShone Kizer from Notre Dame. A wild card could be Brad Kaaya from Miami.
Any of those options are more inviting than the status quo of Jay Cutler.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.