The Chicago Bears flirted with a Jay Cutler trade this offseason, but he is set to be the starter over Jimmy Clausen as the team opens offseason workouts and this summer the team could consider a trade with Matt Forte if he is unhappy about his contract situation, as the team picked Jeremy Langford in the draft along with Kevin White and he could push to contribute with a strong OTA performance.
The Bears are coming into the season after winning just five games last year and now they have a new head coach in John Fox. The team brought in Adam Gase from the Broncos to take over as offensive coordinator and that could help Jay Cutler bounce back from his 2014 performance. Cutler was benched in Wee 16 in favor of Clausen in a last ditch effort for Marc Trestman to save his job and that led to the trade rumors this offseason.
Cutler did not have a great year overall despite putting up good numbers, as he turned over the ball too much and was not consistent. The team now is pushing forward with Cutler and the Chicago Tribune reported that Fox said he would open OTA workouts as the starter. Fox said that Clausen would get the chance to compete in training camp, but Cutler is going to have the leg up, as he is on a huge contract and is getting paid a ton of money, including guaranteed money in 2016.
According to ESPN.com, Forte has been absent from offseason workouts and has said that he wants a new contract extension from the team. Forte is coming into the final year of his deal, but he will be 30 by the end of the season and the team could consider making a move. The Chicago Tribune writes that the Dallas Cowboys could potentially look at trading for Forte, but that no deal is close to happening. The team picked Langford in the draft and now he could be the running back of the future.
Kevin White was the first round pick for the team and Langford came later and now those two could have major impacts on the offense. White should give Alshon Jeffery a solid running mate at wide receiver with Brandon Marshall traded and Langford gives the team more versatility alongside Forte, who is great out of the backfield.
The Chicago Bears were likely to add another running back in the draft this offseason and they did that with Langford after players like Todd Gurley, Ameer Abdullah and Duke Johnson were drafted. The team wants more support for Forte along with Ka'Deem Carey and now Langford should get the chance to contribute. While Cutler threw 18 interceptions, he has the chance to bounce back and now he has new weapons with Kevin White, Eddie Royal and Langford coming in with Alshon Jeffery.
Brandon Marshall is out to the Jets after previously dealing with some issues with the team and that move came after Marshall met with Fox and Ryan Pace and they "assured nothing" to the receiver about 2015. Clearly they were set to move him, as he had a high salary with a base of $7.5 million and would have been able to clear that cap space if they released him and this all came after he had just 61 catches in 13 games last season.
