Chicago Bears "Actively" Shopping Jay Cutler

Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears are surely headed for a split this offseason and the team is doing whatever it can to find a trade parter for its emotionless signal-caller. The Bears are reportedly “actively” shopping the 33-year-old in the hopes that someone would take him off their hands.

Cutler has been bad for years in Chicago, and now the guaranteed portion of his ill-fated seven-year, $126.7 million contract has run out. He’s due a base salary of $12.5 million next year with a $2.5 million roster bonus. The Vanderbilt product is not worth anything close to that, so the Bears are likely to just cut him if they can’t find a trading partner.

The New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals have been eliminated as potential destinations if you believe reports emanating from both front offices. That severely limits Chicago’s options.

Cutler hasn’t played a full 16-game schedule since 2009, his first year in Chicago. In 2016, he only appeared in five games and was largely terrible. He completed just 59.1 percent of his passes for 1,059 yards, with four touchdowns and five interceptions. Cutler’s career quarterback rating of 85.7 is indicative of his worth. He’s an average quarterback prone to making awful decisions with the ball and hurting his team more than he helps.

People still salivate over Cutler’s arm potential despite ample evidence that his raw ability has never translated to sustained on-field success. He’s a gunslinger without the ability to properly read defenses and make the right reads, which means he relies on his ample arm strength far too much. That has always gotten him into trouble.

Try as they might, it’s hard to see the Bears actually finding a trade parter for Cutler.