Dec. 29--MINNEAPOLIS -- A week after Mike Shanahan said he believes in Jay Cutler, the quarterback spoke up on behalf of his former coach, who has made it clear he's looking to get back into the NFL.
"He's a heck of a coach," Cutler said after the Bears' season ended with a 13-9 loss to the Vikings Sunday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium. "He deserves to be a coach somewhere. He is out of the game so I am sure he is looking to coach somewhere.
"My three years with him were very, very enjoyable. He does a great job of leading teams on and off the field and offensively he knows how to get it done."
Shanahan, who appeared last week on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown," is looking to get back into the league after sitting out in 2014. He was fired by Redskins owner Daniel Snyder after last season where he had a $35 million, five-year contract.
"Anytime that you're not with an organization, it's really hard to say what Jay Cutler has done in Chicago," Shanahan said on the show last week. "I just know being with him in Denver as a rookie and second- and third-year guy that he's got all the intangibles. Now, can you get that out of him? Obviously he's going through some growing pains right now with turnovers.
"I really believe in Jay. The future's ahead of him, but he's got to make the commitment that he's going to get better and better. It's going to be a group decision to get him over the top, to where he can be. But he is a franchise-type quarterback."
The East Leyden graduate would be coming home to work for the Bears but it's not known at this point if he will be considered if and when the organization makes a coaching change. Shanahan and the Broncos made Cutler a first-round draft pick in 2006.
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