Thread: Could Cutler Get an Extension Before Forte is Signed?..............Could Ja

Good. If they can't be looked at they can't annoy.

Originally Posted by motownbear

one thing I have noticed is we havent invested big in a player with upfront money since peppers. I think they have been saving their pennies mccaskey style cause they know they are about to take it in the ass with the cutler contract lol

Hopefully, an extension will be given to Cutler before long so that we can avoid paying an even higher price total than we are already projected to.

Originally Posted by motownbear

one thing I have noticed is we havent invested big in a player with upfront money since peppers. I think they have been saving their pennies mccaskey style cause they know they are about to take it in the ass with the cutler contract lol

The trend all over has been to get away from those huge SB's. Now they've gone back to putting more into the annual salaries and/or roster bonuses. Getting that rookie wage scale in line helped with that. The vets can't point those huge rookie SB's any longer. Most rookies don't even get much in the way of a SB. Instead their contracts are guaranteed for a specific period of time.

That's what's happening with the vets too. Only DWill got a ridiculous SB, $16k. The other were more in the $6k-$8k range so there aren't as many dollars to amortize any longer and there's less problem cutting guys who aren't cutting it and leaving a ton of "dead cap space".

Now they backend the deals again which is why Forte and the others are fighting so hard for the guaranteed money. That may be all they'll ever see of those $40 mil plus deals. LeSean McCoys contract has his cap value at over $12 mil in 2015. You just know that deal will be redone or he'll be a cap cut. This is what I've been saying. When is $45 mil not really $45 mil? When it's not guaranteed that when.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

I still don't like it guys. While I understand the whole "discount" argument...its a lot of money to be handing out to a QB that still hasn't taken us to the promised land. So much can happen with in the next years. New signal callers are coming out of college all the time. While I am a very big fan of Cutler, because of his cannon arm, I would like to see some returns within the next 2 years.

And I would like to see some protection other than some wet toilet paper as an offensive line.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

I still don't like it guys. While I understand the whole "discount" argument...its a lot of money to be handing out to a QB that still hasn't taken us to the promised land. So much can happen with in the next years. New signal callers are coming out of college all the time. While I am a very big fan of Cutler, because of his cannon arm, I would like to see some returns within the next 2 years.

I think we have seen one example of it with the results of the Bears' 2010 season. Had Cutler remained healthy throughout the remainder of the NFC Championship Game, we might have won. We also saw what he meant to this offense this past season once he went down with the thumb injury. When that happened, everything came unglued, and we nearly finished with a losing record. The worst I see the Bears finishing last season had Cutler stayed healthy was 12-4, with the only loss coming against the Packers. Hell, maybe not even against them, as they were really slipping and sliding down the home stretch. Their awful defense - the Packers, I mean - lost them one game, gave up like 21 or 24 points to us when we had nothing offensively on Christmas Night, and ultimately led to their defeat in the NFC Divisional Playoff against the Giants.

I think you're going to see a major difference in this year's team from last year's. We're going to have a better line, whether Webb is the left tackle or not, simply because of the line having gained some valuable experienced and the fact that everybody is returning. If Webb doesn't earn his spot at LT, it will be because a guy who was drafted in the first round beat him for the spot; we could possible have two first rounders serving as book ends on the offensive line this year. This team has the potential to be very special and to give Bears' fans memories to cherish and treasure for many years to come.

While I think Cutler has earned his next contract (I know you think he needs another year or two to prove himself, but bear with me here), I can see where you're coming from on this as well. Cutler has only played one complete season as the starting quarterback for the Bears. That one year - 2009 - saw him throw 26 interceptions while he threw 26 touchdown passes, which is good for a 1:1 ratio. The following year, he completes a little over 62% of his passes, much like he did in '09, but he missed a game and a half of action because of a concussion he sustained at the hands of the New York Giants, who overpowered our offensive line. Cutler only has a statistical line that goes something like this: +/- 3,200 yards passing, 23 touchdown passes, and 16 interceptions. The offense was never able to fully blossom because of how bad our offensive line way; it was a carry over from the 2009 season. This past season, the line improved up until Cutler was injured in Week 11. After that, Webb and Louis struggled at tackle. This was, in no small part, due to the exact things that Mike Martz had implemented throughout the 2010 season, which was go to those crazy seven step drops. After Cutler went down, the offense went "KAPUT!", and all the life was sucked out of it, for all intents and purposes.

From the perspective that Cutler has yet to put together a statistically-complete season in terms of a 4,000 yard, 30+ TD pass, 10-15 INT, and 63-65% completions, your thought processes are logical. However, I want to offer you the idea that Cutler has become somewhat of an intangible for this team, and in particular, this offense. Our offense was killed last season when Cutler and Forte went down. However, how much did the loss of Forte have on the Bears' already stagnant offense that by that time, struggled to string a single touchdown in a game situation? We were actually very successful running the football without Forte in the lineup, and that's the reason why, if push comes to shove, I wouldn't be bothered if Forte were to be traded for draft picks before next year's draft or, for that matter, allowed to go on his merry way into free agency. Running backs are a dime a dozen, and even if Forte had stayed healthy in '11 past the Kansas City game, he probably wouldn't have scored that many touchdowns. Forte's biggest hang up is the undeniable fact that he doesn't seem to have the nose to find the end zone; when you match up his statistics - +/- 1,450 total yards of offense with the fact that he only scored four touchdowns - something does click. However, with Cutler, this offense is exciting to watch, no matter who the receivers are. He had arguably the worst crop of wide receivers in the entire NFL last year, with Earl Bennett being the only consistent performer out of the bunch, and he still was able to complete about 60% of his passes and keep his interceptions to a bare minimum.

So there's my two cents worth. I think Cutler's intangibles warrant giving him a new contract. After all, where will we find one who is as good as him? Not likely in a trade, and not likely in the draft unless we just absolutely suck ass next year and get the #1 overall pick and thereby get to pick Matt Barkley.

Originally Posted by BigClaws

And I would like to see some protection other than some wet toilet paper as an offensive line.

Cutler already can be seen as the most talented QB this franchise has had for 40 years... Cutty has to stay and he did a great job as Bears QB so far when you look at the talent he had to work with.