How long before....??

Had a discussion over a few beers with the neighbors to whom are Bear, Viking and Pats fans. My question to all of them was "How long till you can hold Cutler accountable for this team?" Say the bears Flop HARDDDDDD this year do you still sign him to big money or do you grab a rookie next year? Do you let Cutler have one extra chance before releasing him to the FA? Im a huge bear fan but i sit back and wonder... Now lets try to keep this civil as possible... And no JC is god and Cutler is the man. I'm dead serious here because this site is the most down to earth bunch of guys ive had the pleasure of talking with but honestly If cutler doesnt prove himself with this team is it time to move on to another direction?

I'm confused. I thought Cutler HAD proven himself. I guess he can go 10-0 this year and then he can get hurt and we could go 0-6 to drive the point home again, but do we need to do that to show the Viking and Pats fans that he is good?

I would rather Brady get hurt and the Pats go down the toilet to prove he is valuable. Or um... lets see... I'm trying to think.... well, the Vikings have an advantage. It doesn't matter who they lose. They can not skip a beat and just keep losing.

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Originally Posted by VJ18

Had a discussion over a few beers with the neighbors to whom are Bear, Viking and Pats fans. My question to all of them was "How long till you can hold Cutler accountable for this team?" Say the bears Flop HARDDDDDD this year do you still sign him to big money or do you grab a rookie next year? Do you let Cutler have one extra chance before releasing him to the FA? Im a huge bear fan but i sit back and wonder... Now lets try to keep this civil as possible... And no JC is god and Cutler is the man. I'm dead serious here because this site is the most down to earth bunch of guys ive had the pleasure of talking with but honestly If cutler doesnt prove himself with this team is it time to move on to another direction?

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Yeah, at worst, I could see Cutler approaching 20 INTs, but all that a bad season from him would do is lower his negotiation leverage going into the offseason. With this defense, we simply can't afford to draft a rookie QB and try to go from there (besides, Matt Barkley is the best in the draft class, barring some unforseen incident, and we all know how USC QBs pan out in the NFL; they're the new Florida)

VJ, I understand where your coming from. Some people still do not think very highly of Cutler, and that is their prerogative. However, I do not happen to be one of them. I think Cutler is clearly the best QB we've had in Chicago in my lifetime and I'm 48. Now, if he goes out and throws 30 pics and only 7 TD's, well, I may have to revisit my opinion, but who among us really thinks that is going to happen? If the Bears thud this year, I still think the finger points more at Lovie than anyone else, however, many people will give Lovie a pass even if the Bears go 0-16 and blame everyone else, including Cutler. Our coach is teflon in many ways.

No, I don't think Cutler is going anywhere.

I agree that Cutler has proven to be:

A) tougher than any QB we've had in decades
B) better than any QB we've had in decades
C) able to make something from nothing * (this is the one area that could be his downfall, pressing - however with upgraded talent around him I hope he won't feel the need to press)
D) mentally tough


That being said, if he should have trouble at this point, I'm not sure I'm selling. Maybe I wouldn't give him max bucks on an extension, but I wouldn't sell.

I stuck w/ Grossman, because he was a Bear. I won't say I didn't cringe from time to time, or even wish they would pull him in games. I also felt the same about Orton.

My main question, and I think the team's should be too, is "who are you going to get that is better?"

I look at it this way. We brought Cutler to a team with:

1. Crap wide receivers.
2. Crap for an oline
3. A crazy OC, who was replaced by a crazier OC who,
4. Didn't believe in using TE's as receiver weapons
5. And playing in an offensive scheme that was madness. 7 step drops without an offensive line to protect him.
6. A GM who didn't value the offense enough to acquire top-tier talent.

And Cutler STILL looked good (considering the circumstances listed above).

Jay Cutler is the least of our problems here. He's proven himself. This is a team sport. You can't blame 1 guy for an epic failure by many. He's "accountable" but unfortunately he can't perform magic.

It will be interesting to see if this oline can give him the protection needed to fully utilize the new weapons we've acquired under Emery.

Yeah no way drafting a qb or thinking cutler isnt our guy is even a question he has been the driving force behind any sucess (look what happens when he goes down)

This year may decide his payday but thats it

I think Cutler is clearly at the bottom of the elite QB's; but he's still elite. I think this year is where he can prove if he belongs higher on that list though. He has his QB coach, who is also going to install the passing plays, his favorite target; another go up and get it WR in Jefferies, the most reliable possession guy in the game, and the best catching RB in the game. If he cannot put up big #'s this year and wins well it's on him.

I would still draft a backup qb high and let the others walk. that was how GB did it, and it worked very well for them; just go back and look at all the starters that ended up on other teams while the iron hillbilly was playing. And when he finally was forced out they had what is now considered one of the best qb's in the league playing for them. The position is to imporant to continually take late round/ufda guys to help fill out the roster, or hope they devlop. Grab a qb in round 1 or 2(late obviously) and assure Cutler that much like Farve, he's the starter and this guy is his backup.

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Originally Posted by 4DaBERS

VJ, I understand where your coming from. Some people still do not think very highly of Cutler, and that is their prerogative. However, I do not happen to be one of them. I think Cutler is clearly the best QB we've had in Chicago in my lifetime and I'm 48. Now, if he goes out and throws 30 pics and only 7 TD's, well, I may have to revisit my opinion, but who among us really thinks that is going to happen? If the Bears thud this year, I still think the finger points more at Lovie than anyone else, however, many people will give Lovie a pass even if the Bears go 0-16 and blame everyone else, including Cutler. Our coach is teflon in many ways.

No, I don't think Cutler is going anywhere.

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i agree totally with you but im just asking a what if...

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Originally Posted by VJ18

i agree totally with you but im just asking a what if...

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That's fair, it's a reasonable question. My question is, what did the neighbors say and how many beers had they consumed when they said it?:drinking61: