Bears HC Marc Trestman met the media for the first time on Thursday since news broke last night they had made the decision to bench Jay Cutler and start Jimmy Clausen against the Lions.
According to Trestman, he first informed the quarterbacks of his decision before later meeting with GM Phil Emery.
“I think we need a lift at quarterback,” Trestman said of the decision. “I think we need a spark.”
Trestman added the change is just for this week, and Cutler will be team’s backup for Week 16’s game.
As for Cutler, he said “shocked at first and then disappointed” and added that he “didn’t see it coming.”
“I would like to stay here. I really like it here,” Cutler said regarding his future with the Bears. “I love the guys in the locker room. This is where I’d like to be.”
Cutler added that the possibility that he may have already played his final game with the Bears “definitely crossed my mind, for sure.”
Despite the fact that Trestman was the on who made the decision, Cutler said he has no issues with him at all and even referred to the second-year coach as a “heck of a quarterback coach.”
Cutler admitted that he probably hasn’t lived up to his contract nor the expectations that many had for him in 2014.
“There’s a lot of money in my contract,” he said. “And that comes with a lot of expectations.”
We covered the ramifications from releasing or trading Cutler earlier in the week.
The Bears would take on $4 million in dead money by trading Cutler next year and releasing him would force them to pay him the remaining $15.5 million of his contract. It’s worth mentioning that the salary from his next team would reduce the amount Chicago owes him.
It’s worth mentioning that the Bears will need to make a decision regarding Cutler before March as another $10 million will become guaranteed at that point.
A number of people have floated the idea that this move was made to preserve some amount of trade value for Cutler next year and prevent him from sustaining an injury. However, Jason La Canfora points out that everything that was said in Chicago Thursday runs counter to this narrative.
Cutler, 31, has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 3,640 yards to go along with 28 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 33 quarterback out of 40 qualifying players.
Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
Are players allowed (if they agreed to it which I don’t see a lot of people wanting to do) restructure their contract at anytime? Let’s say the Bears said they would like to keep him but at lets say 3 years/60 million with 20 of it guaranteed, can that happen?
The two sides can renegotiate an existing contract at any time as far as I know. Usually, these situations come down to leverage.
In the situation you laid out, Cutler would actually receive an increase of $4.5M guaranteed, but less than the total guarantees that could from his still being on the roster in 2015 ($25.5M). With this is in mind, it would be a comprise of sorts and an indication that CHI still believes he’s their best option at QB for the next two years.
I’m not sure they would be willing to do this.
A more realistic compromise would be CHI offering him $10M of his $15.5M guaranteed and the elimination of his 2016 guarantees to get one more shot at being the team’s starter.
This is just a hypothetical suggestion on my part and I’m not even sure they want him back at all.
You would think that they would if they could reduce his salary. He has been pretty bad this year but there is no one through FA or that would fall to them through the draft that would be a better option then he is at this point. I believe that all it is, is just a money concern as they were way too quick to pull the trigger on extending him.