“Growing Uncertainty” About The Future Of Jay Cutler & John Fox With Bears

Update:

Two Bears’ players tell Mike Freeman of B/R that “most of the locker room has given up on [Jay] Cutler.” Freeman adds that like their loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday appears to have shaken the confidence of Bears’ players in Cutler.

• One Bears player told Freeman that Cutler’s lack of preparation “was truly embarrassing.”
• Freeman believes the Bears are going to have to do some “major housecleaning” during the offseason.

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Jason Cole of B/R reports that Jay Cutler‘s poor performance only adds to the belief that the Bears will cut him loose after the season.

Beyond that, Cole says that there’s also “growing uncertainty” about HC John Fox’s future with the Bears, as he’s been criticized for his lackadaisical coaching style.

According to Cole, some have wondered why Cutler isn’t playing at the same level as he did in 2015, and fingers are now being pointed at Fox.

In regards to Fox, Ian Rapoport previously reported that the Bears’ brass has begun a full examination of the football operation from top to bottom and have even brought in an “outside consultant” to help with the organizational evaluation.

Fox still has two years remaining on his four-year contract while Pace has three remaining on his five-year contract.

Cutler, 33, is in the third year of his seven-year, $126.7 million contract that included $54 million guaranteed and stands to make a base salary of $16 million for the 2016 season.

Cutler has no guaranteed money left on his contract and Chicago would only take a $2 million salary cap hit by releasing him next year. The Bears would pick up $13 million in salary-cap space should they cut him loose.

In 2016, Cutler has appeared in two games and throw for 807 yards while completing 59.8 percent of his passes to go along with three touchdowns and four interceptions. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 31 quarterback out of 34 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Cutler and Fox’s future with the Bears as the news is available.