If anyone had any about that the Chicago Bears were trying to move on from Jay Cutler, it’s been revealed that the team tried trading him to the Tennessee Titans for the number two overall pick, which yielded Marcus Mariota, a quarterback half the NFL it seemed was trying to get their hands on.
The Bears move on from the Marc Trestman debacle to the John Fox tenure. They would have loved for Cutler to move on with Trestman as well, after a season in which he led the NFL in interceptions (18) and while his overall numbers who progress, it had a lot to do with plenty of garbage time minutes out there on the field to make it seem like he’s actually doing something.
The Bears, like many other teams, kept calling the Titans, who made it seem like they weren’t interested in the number 2 pick or Mariota. But this was just a lead on. Maybe in order to see how much teams were willing to offer for him. In the end, they rejected offers from the Eagles, Browns and as it turns out, also the Bears, and took Mariota, hoping he’ll be the quarterback of the future they failed to find or develop in Jake Locker.
And the Bears? They’re in quite a bind. Cutler knows they tried to trade him, but he’s also owed a lot of money with a contract that runs through 2020. He’s getting paid like a franchise quarterback, and they actually drafted a wide receiver in the first round (Kevin White), hoping it helps their disappointing offense, but the rift between the sides might be too big to bridge. But getting rid of Cutler in the form of trading him is almost impossible, unless he’s willing to restructure his deal, which means taking a massive pay cut.