Jay Cutler benched

[kennyb]

Chicago had no shot to win with cutler.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I know seriously WTF, it seems like every other prime time game is the Bears and every time they get their asses handed to them. Who's the dumbass who scheduled that?

Goodell is responsible.
The owners paying Goodell over $20M for WTF is a worse travesty than Cutler's contract.

 

[VrabelJr]

I'm 99% sure that the Bears are starting Jimmy Clausen solely for the fact Christmas is around the corner and his last name contains the word "Clause."

 

[patchick]

Jimmy Clausen against that Lions pass rush... good grief.

Hmm...Cutler's salary for next year is already guaranteed, but beyond that is only guaranteed for injury. If they play him between now and the end of next season, they're an injury away from being on the hook for ALL of it. Tempting to make him the league's highest-paid backup, and cover him in bubble wrap.

 

[Rob0729]

 

[Ring 6]

Mcdaniels and Caserio to the Bears would be very interesting.
Josh could bring in Hoyer or Cassel to QB and then hire Rex Ryan as his DC it would be a huge upgrade and if a owner a move I'd love to make.

anyone who would formulate a plan to build their team around Brian Hoyer or Matt Cassell should be kicked out of the interview.

 

[chasa]

this should be a surprise to noone.

The only people who thought the cutler contract wasn't a huge mistake was the bears front office last year.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

That David Fales must be some 6th-round prospect.

Wouldn't be shocked if he ends up in the game at some point this week.........provided he's on the game day active.. 3 qbs??? Is Cutler now #2 or #3????

 

[Patriot Missile]

Just a reminder that Jay Jay's contract was for $126.7Mil over 7 years. This translates to $38mil in dead money for 2014 and $19.5Mil in 2015 for the bears. Way to run a front office.

It's basically a 3 year guaranteed contract. But they are stuck with him for the next 2 seasons whether they like it or not. My question is? If they release him after 2016 does he still count against the Chicago cap from 2017 to 2020?

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Would CHi every consider cutting him and giving him his 15 mill check and saying later? I mean he is going to take them no were..sooner or later if you want to win..you have to make that choice...

 

[TruthSeeker]

The thought of the Bears playing a back up to give their opponents a better chance of winning isn't that far-fetched, especially given the history between Chicago and Green Bay.

Actually, the thinking is that the backup will actually give Chicago a better chance of winning. So much for the highest paid player in the NFL (by money actually paid) this year.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I may have this wrong, but it seems that Chicago has a GM who selected a Coach, who selected an Offensive Coordinator. He then gave a huge contract to the incumbent Quarterback, making him almost impossible to cut. The Offensive Coordinator leaked unattributed criticism of the Quarterback to the newspapers, who was then benched by the Coach.

If that's right, then I'm astonished, but I'd have to admit that the Jets are not the most dysfunctional franchise in football.

 

[terabthia2]

He's basically untradeable and uncuttable, like the Jets were with Mark Sanchez a couple of years ago. The Bears are stuck with him and, yes, Dabears are at Jets-level dysfunction right now.

Way to go, Bears!

 

[Snake Eyes]

anyone who would formulate a plan to build their team around Brian Hoyer or Matt Cassell should be kicked out of the interview.

That's not a plan to "to build their team around Brian Hoyer or Matt Cassell", getting a QB like them is an upgrade over Cutler, who doesn't seem to care about winning, and also not forcing a stupid personnel move like drafting someone like Manziel. Neither Cassell nor Hoyer are franchise QBs but the world isn't going to end if you don't have one, Chicago hasn't had one in a LONG time.

 

[RobertWeathers]

He's basically untradeable and uncuttable, like the Jets were with Mark Sanchez a couple of years ago. The Bears are stuck with him and, yes, Dabears are at Jets-level dysfunction right now.

Way to go, Bears!

Yep. Only difference is that while the Jets stink, they still play hard for Rex.

With the Bears, they are laying down on Trestman.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Trestman is just hoping that Clausen somehow pulls a couple wins out of his ass. He's getting fired either way, but if it works out then, when someone gives him an interview in a couple years, he'll be able to spin it as being stuck with a terrible QB, and point to these last two games as proof.

 

[Off The Grid]

Heh. The Day that that Trade was made, I called it one'f the stupidest ever. I said then and I say again, now: The Broncos may've acquired Kyle Orton in that Trade, but they still got the better QuarterBack.

...And they also got 2 1st Rounders and a 3rd Rounder thrown in!!

The Broncos could've built a Dynasty with that Trade...Instead, they drafted Tim Tebow!!

 

[RayClay]

I'm 99% sure that the Bears are starting Jimmy Clausen solely for the fact Christmas is around the corner and his last name contains the word "Clause."

Could be they just find themselves in a pickle.

 

[meatface]

What possible benefit is there for them to do this? Seriously they can't cut him, this doesn't help them if they want to trade him and Its not as if Clausen gives them a better chance to win

 

[Oswlek]

What possible benefit is there for them to do this? Seriously they can't cut him, this doesn't help them if they want to trade him and Its not as if Clausen gives them a better chance to win

I can lots of benefits.

1) As Patchick stated above, Cutler's 2015 salary is only guaranteed for injury, so this gives them flexibility to cut Jay if no viable trade offers are available.

2) If Clausen somehow looks competent, Jay looks like a convenient fall guy allowing Trestman to keep his job.

3) There are rumors that Jay lost the confidence of the locker room, and/or that he's not following the playbook properly, so maybe Trestman is forced to do it or risk appearing too timid to be respected leader.

I can't really see how this hurts their chances of trading Jay. He's too well known in the league for a game or two at the end of the year to really sway anyone's opinion of him. It's not like he was going to light up Detroit playing behind that OL, either.

Frankly, I'm only surprised that it didn't happen sooner. No, check that, I'm also surprised that they signed him in the first place. I wouldn't have given Cutler Matt Cassel's contract, let alone the one he actually got.

All that said, I have to admit that Jay came off very impressive in his press conference yesterday. He was very supportive of Jimmy, admitted he didn't take the news well, refused to get into a pissing match with Trestman and took a good portion of the blame for his benching.