Albert Breer of NFL Media writes that Jay Cutler may be giving the Bears reason to consider retaining him for another year based on his play this season.
Breer mentions that new OC Adam Gase has helped Cutler, due to the quarterback’s comfort level in the offense, which has employed more no-huddle that the previous systems he’s played in. It’s worth mentioning that Cutler has had six offensive coordinators over the past right years.
According to Breer, it would cost the Bears $16 million to keep Cutler for the 2016 season. However, $10 million of this figure is already guaranteed, and his cap figure would drop from $17 million to $13 million if he’s released.
With this in mind, Breer believes “it’s not insane to envision Chicago keeping him — or another team looking at him” if he can continue to perform at this level. For what it’s worth, Breer doesn’t rule out the possibility that Cutler could have some trade value next year in the event the Bears are open to fielding offers from teams in need of a quarterback.
Cutler, 32, is in the second year of his seven-year, $126.7 million contract that included $54 million guaranteed. He stands to make base salaries of $15.5 million (2015), $16 million (2016), $12.5 million (2017) $13.5 million (2018), and $17.5 million (2019).
This season, Cutler has thrown for 878 yards while completing 60.2 percent of his passes to go along with six touchdowns and three interceptions over the course of four games. He’s also added 70 rushing yards for the Bears. Pro Football Focus has Cutler rated as the No. 16 quarterback out of 36 qualifying players.
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