It’s Over for Cutler in Chicago as Trestman Puts Him in His Place: The Bench
Published by Mike Freeman on December 17, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Jay Cutler was benched for Jimmy Clausen. Please read that sentence carefully. Cutler…benched…for Clausen. That’s like Chris Rock losing a starting gig to Dane Cook.
The news that Clausen will start Sunday against the Detroit Lions was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and when I saw it on Twitter, initially I thought his account had been hacked. “No, no. This can’t be true.” But it was, and it is. And…wow.
It’s over for Cutler in Chicago. What I mean by that is while his expensive contract may force the Bears to keep him—he’s the highest-paid offensive player in the NFL and will earn over $15 million in guaranteed cash next year—a player does not recover from being benched in favor of Jimmy Freaking Clausen.
For Cutler to sit just 14 games into a megacontract means there will be a total housecleaning in Chicago. Cutler usually only gets coaches fired. This time, a general manager could be gone as well.
Throughout Cutler’s career, coaches always believed: I can change him. This is the Jeff George Theorem. It’s right up there with Hawking radiation and relativity. The more you rely on Cutler, the more you think you can change him, the more you fall into the abyss.
Remember when all we heard was how Marc Trestman was a quarterback guru? Even Cutler thought so. “It’s a great hire,” Cutler told ChicagoBears.com after the coach was brought in. “I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve talked to guys around the league and did my own research on him. He’s an offensive mind, a great person and a guy that’s going to come in and hopefully lead us to many victories in the future.”
And by many victories in the future, Cutler meant 5-9.
Cutler continued:
He’s been successful wherever he’s been. He’s from the West Coast coaching tree, which I’m familiar with. It’s what I came into the league with with (Mike) Shanahan, so I’m looking forward to it. He understands quarterbacks. He understands their thought process and the minds of quarterbacks and what we have to go through. It’s going to be a quarterback-friendly system, and I can’t wait to get started with him.
And by understanding quarterbacks, Cutler meant he caused Trestman to think longingly of the Montreal Alouettes.
The Bears may be forced to keep Cutler next season, but his value to the team is gone. Players in that locker room, who are likely already dubious, will be more so. His credibility in Chicago is done. Cutler is a coach-killer, but coaches have always been enamored with Cutler’s arm, even to the point where that arm strangled their patience and careers. So while Cutler will get yet another coach obliterated—Trestman is gone after this year—at least on his way out the door, Trestman did the right thing.
Finally, a coach who realized that Cutler can’t play this game at an elite level. Because he can’t. He never has. He never will.
In the past, whenever I’ve written that Cutler is overrated and uncoachable, a flood of tweets and emails and message-board posts would point to his arm strength. “He can throw a football through a brick wall,” I’d be told. The problem is, the pass would be picked off before it reached the first brick.
Cutler isn’t good. It’s beyond the “Jay George” stuff. If all it took was a strong arm, George would be in the Hall of Fame.
What the Bears never understood until now is that Cutler lacks all of the other aspects it takes to play the position. The leadership, the dedication, the work ethic—everything that makes Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson so good.
Cutler leads the NFL in turnovers (24) and interceptions (18). The reason the greats don’t make so many mistakes is because they prepare. They’re mentally strong. These are not things in which Cutler has ever excelled.
Is the Chicago mess all Cutler’s fault? Of course not. But a player paid the kind of cash Cutler earns is supposed to make a difference. Cutler’s career record is 61-57. He’s won a single playoff game. The same number as Tim Tebow.
This is a pivotal moment because what we are seeing is a coach finally realizing what Cutler is. Sure, Trestman is like that band on the Titanic as it sinks. If he’s going down, this is how he wants to do it, playing that violin as the icy waters engulf him. Yet this is more than that.
This is a coach who sees past the arm and has the stones to make a statement: Cutler isn’t that good. It’s a statement that I’m certain Lovie Smith wanted to make. It’s a statement likely many of Cutler’s past coaches wanted to make but didn’t.
It’s over—one way or another—for Cutler in Chicago. This is what happens when you get benched for Jimmy Clausen.
Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. All stats from Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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