Report: Jay Cutler Won’t Accept Trade To Any Team, May Threaten To Retire If Dealt

Jason Cole of B/R spoke with several NFL GMs who believe Bears QB Jay Cutler won’t accept a trade to any team and may threaten to retire if he’s traded to a team that he doesn’t want to play for.

Cole says that even if Cutler is traded to a team he would be interested in playing, it’s still unlikely he would go along with a plan that would hurt the team’s ability to surround him talent.

Should Cutler retire, he has no obligation to pay a team back any money.

The Bears are “actively” trying to trade Cutler and reportedly have been for a few months now. However, this is viewed as just a precursor to Chicago eventually releasing him before the start of free agency.

Jason La Canfora mentioned yesterday that the Bears would take a 2019 seventh-round pick for Cutler, which goes to show just how little interest there is in taking on his contract.

Last night, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media said that Cutler is one of several veteran players still determining what they’ll play in 2017 or retire.

“He’s one of several veterans who are still considering whether they want to play, whether they want to not play, retire, walk away,” Rapoport said on Wednesday’s “NFL Total Access.” “A lot of things in play here for Jay Cutler.”

Cutler is recovering from labrum surgery. Although, Rapoport says he’s doing well and is expected to be healthy at some point in the near future.

The Jets have been tossed out as a team to watch for Cutler if/when he’s released by Chicago, but it will be interesting to see the level of interest in him this offseason. Cutler has struggled with consistency throughout his career and has dealt with injuries the past few seasons.

Cutler, 33, is a former first-round pick of the Broncos back in 2006. He spent three years in Denver before he was traded to the Bears in 2009. He’s currently in the fourth year of his seven-year, $126.7 million contract that included $54 million guaranteed and stands to make a base salary of $12.5 million for the 2017 season to go along with a $2.5 million roster bonus.

Cutler has no guaranteed money left on his contract and Chicago would only take a $2 million salary cap hit by releasing him this year. According to OverTheCap.com, trading or releasing Cutler would free up $14 million of available cap space for the Bears.

In 2016, Cutler appeared in five games and throw for 1,059 yards while completing 59.1 percent of his passes to go along with four touchdowns and five interceptions.

We’ll have more regarding Cutler and where he could end up as the news is available.