March 12--Twenty-one days after the Chicago Bears were noncommittal about the future of Jay Cutler, they announced they're moving forward with him as the starting quarterback.
The franchise's new leadership, under the direction of general manager Ryan Pace and coach John Fox, said they needed more time to evaluate Cutler the last time they spoke publicly at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.
"We made that decision," Pace said Wednesday at Halas Hall after introducing outside linebacker Pernell McPhee as the first piece of the club's free-agent class. "We went through a process of thoroughly evaluating the roster. We're moving forward with Jay Cutler as our starting quarterback."
When the Bears declined to back Cutler last month, they fueled speculation Cutler could potentially be traded if they could find another franchise willing to take on his bulky contract, or perhaps even outright released. Cutler will earn $15.5 million this season, which is fully guaranteed, and when he is on the roster at 3 p.m. Thursday, a $10 million guarantee of his base salary in 2016 will kick in. This will be Cutler's seventh season with the team since arriving in a blockbuster 2009 trade with the Denver Broncos.
Pace tried to put to rest rumors the Bears shopped Cutler to other teams.
"A lot of these things are internal, guys, but no, those things never occurred," Pace said. "Jay is our quarterback, and that's what we're doing, that's what we're looking forward to and I'd just like to keep it at that."
It was a little more than 14 months ago that former GM Phil Emery talked about Cutler leading the Bears for the long haul. Pace and Fox didn't go there but they were also upbeat about what realistically looks like an arranged marriage for a year. If it works out, they can stay together. If it doesn't, the Bears could explore other avenues at this time next year.
How does Fox feel about Cutler, who is on his third head coach with the Bears and fifth offensive coordinator?
"Obviously good," Fox said. "We made the commitment. Time will tell for all of us. We haven't even been on the grass yet. I've watched Jay compete in the past. We gained a lot of information moving forward. I think there's a talent level there that obviously we feel good enough to explore. Like all our players, they're going to get a chance to compete and see how we perform. That's the exciting part of all of this."
Pace said they spent additional time meeting with Cutler.
"It's just getting to know him as a person, like I said initially. Just being through with all of that, that helped us come to this conclusion," Pace said. "This is a new group that's come in together -- a new general manager, new head coach, new coaches and I think this was just a process for us all. So I don't feel like there was any fence-mending. He understood the process that we were going through. We're excited together going forward."
Fox said the biggest thing for him is Cutler's desire to work.
"If a guy will work at it, he can get better," Fox said. "If he's not willing to work at it, he's not getting better. In this league you don't stay the same -- you're either getting better or getting worse. And so what I saw and learned of him is intelligence, he's wiling to work at it, so I think he's capable of improving."
