The Chicago Bears are committed to Jay Cutler simply because guaranteed money says so. While the team might deny it now, there was growing speculation the Bears were preparing to move past the veteran, but his contract made that idea extremely difficult. Instead, they will enter 2015 with Cutler under center and head coach John Fox expects bigger and better things from the quarterback.
According to Fox, confidence was an issue for Cutler last season as the team struggled greatly throughout the season. No, Cutler was not the entire issue, but he certainly played a big part in it. Now with Fox in at head coach and Ryan Pace in as general manager, Cutler must step up if he intends to stay employed by the Bears. Fox believes once his confidence is fixed, the rest will come.
"I think maybe he got to the point where he lacked confidence a year ago," Fox said, via the Chicago Tribune. "To build that back up, it's going to take time, daily. It takes trust, like any relationship. Playing defense. Playing complementary football is going to be something that helps. I liken it a little bit, not being critical, to Tony Romo. I think there had been different things said. I know Tony personally. He's a tremendous competitor. I thought he had one of his better seasons a year ago with that same kind of build-up. With success comes confidence."
According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, the Bears met with Cutler without his agent and guaranteed the quarterback he would return for the upcoming season. However, Cutler's guaranteed money is over in 2016. IF he struggles, do the Bears make a change at quarterback? There is growing belief the franchise is eyeing Marcus Mariota in the upcoming NFL Draft as a potential replacement to Cutler in the coming years.
The issue with Mariota heading to Chicago is that the Bears would likely have to trade up in order to get the quarterback. The team must decide if it is worth giving up draft picks in order to get a player that is potentially not needed for the 2015 season. Trades for players like Matt Forte have been tossed around which could get the Bears some picks, but in the end they would be giving up too much to get a quarterback who might not play in the upcoming season. If Chicago wants a young quarterback to build on, targeting someone like Brett Hundley or Bryce Petty might be the better option.
