The End of the Cutler Era in Chicago

(Editor's Note: I'm aware that John Fox said in his press conference this afternoon that Jay Cutler isn't out for the year, but given his history of misdirecting the media, I don't buy that shit for a second.)

News broke Monday afternoon that Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will miss the rest of the 2016 season after suffering a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder in the team's 22-16 loss to the New York Giants last Sunday. This unfortunate injury now all but guarantees that Cutler has played his last snap as a member of the Bears. Given his age (he'll be 34 in April) and cap hit ($16 mil) going into 2017, the time has finally come for the Bears to take the next step in their rebuilding process by going in a different direction under center.

Watching Cutler play for the Bears over the past 8 seasons has been a simultaneously exhilarating, depressing and nerve-wracking experience that has probably taken a solid 10-15 years off my life. There were highs (the 2010 NFC Championship Game appearance, the 15 4th quarterback comeback wins), lows (the back-breaking turnovers, everything that happened during 2014) and a whole lot of mediocrity (basically every other seasons that wasn't previously mentioned). His knack for making jaw-dropping deep, tight-window throws was fun as hell to watch and his tendency to turn the ball over at the most inopportune time has launched me into more expletive-laden outbursts than I could possibly count.
 
As erratic as his play could be, I always felt like the Bears had a shot to win when Cutler was on the field. This might sound insane to people who don't follow the Bears or the segment of the fanbase that thought whatever asshat (Caleb Hanie or Josh McCown anyone?) that was trotted out as an injury fill-in was the answer, but whatever small amount of success the squad has enjoyed since their once-elite defense and GOAT kick returner Devin Hester succumbed to Father Time 5 years ago can primarily be attributed to the bitter, stone-faced gunslinger from Santa Claus, Indiana. He can make any throw you ask of him at any point of the game, his arm strength is absolutely ridiculous and his mental toughness is among the strongest of any quarterback I've ever watched play.

There's perhaps no greater example of how essential Cutler is to the functionality of this team than what transpired while he was out with a broken thumb earlier this season. The offense under the guidance of Brian Hoyer can only be described as a sad, limp-dicked disgrace. Sure there was less turnovers during Hoyer's 5-game stint under center, but his inability to throw the ball more than 5 yards down the field, sustain a drive in the 2nd half or SCORE A FUCKING TOUCHDOWN IN THE REDZONE cost the team at least 2 wins in the month of October. I can say with complete honesty that watching the losses that were caused by Hoyer's weekly bubble screen bonanza was infinitely worse than any of the multi-turnover trainwrecks that Cutler put up over the years. 

The most unfair, fucked up thing about this whole situation is that history is going to point to Cutler as the sole reason for the disappointment and dysfunction that occurred his 8-year tenure with the team. While his inconsistent play and inability to show any emotion has done its fair share of damage to the team, Cutler has served as the scapegoat for the woes of a team that has consistently made awful personnel decisions (every draft before Ryan Pace got there, trading Greg Olsen in 2011 because "tight ends had no place" in Mike Martz's offense, hiring Marc "I won a couple of CFL titles so I must have what it takes to win in the NFL" Trestman over proven offensive wizard Bruce Arians as head coach in 2013, countless other), burned through 6 different offensive coordinators and dealt with the worst luck of any team outside of Cleveland or Buffalo (never forget the snake-bitten campaigns of 2011-13) during his 8-year tenure. The deck has been stacked against Cutler since he arrived in Chicago and that unwavering adversity played a pivotal role in his inability to live up to the top-tier franchise quarterback expectations that were placed upon him. By the time they brought in a general manager (Ryan Pace) and head coach (John Fox) with the football acumen required to turn things around, Cutler's prime years had past and the roster around him was almost completely deprived of cornerstone talent. It's honestly sad to think about how great this team could've been if the Bears ownership had tried to to solve their front office and coaching issues in a more timely fashion.

While I completely understand and agree with the decision to move on from Cutler, I'm not going to pretend like the team's future prospects without him aren't terrifying. Knowing exactly what you're going to get at quarterback week-in and week-out for the past 8 seasons has been pretty dope and that peace of mind suddenly disappearing is just another reason to start grief-drinking at 9 A.M. every gameday. I have no idea if they're going to acquire a veteran or use their guaranteed top-5 draft pick to select a member of this universally-panned upcoming quarterback class (if history repeats itself, the Bears will do the latter and it will end horribly) to fill the void, but none of the potential starting options for 2017 fill me with a lot of joy or optimism. Tony Romo is a geriatric that happens to be made of glass, Jimmy Garoppolo is a huge gamble that more than likely won't be available unless he does something to piss off Fuhrer Belichick over the next 6 months, DeShaun Watson is basically Johnny Manziel without the blow habit, Brad Kaaya (aka Spawn of Felicia from Friday) is reportedly leaning towards staying in school for another year, Mitch Trubisky is a fucking mystery man that seems like a strong contender to be sentenced to a multi-year stint at the Cleveland Browns Sadness Factory* (trademark pending) and the mere thought of them possibly re-signing Hoyer makes me want to throw myself off of Willis Tower. In other words, the 2017 offseason is going to be exactly the type of sadistic torture Bears fans haven't been able to shake for a majority of the past 2 decades and if it wasn't for a certain apocalyptic event taking place on January 20th, it would be the thing I'm least looking forward to experiencing next year. It sure as shit wasn't always pretty, but I'm going to miss having that reckless, miserable, cigarette-smoking bastard as my team's quarterback and I hope he enjoys a lot of success as the next quarterback of the New York Jets.