Jay Cutler is neither internationally known and, before today, he was not known to rock the microphone. That didn’t stop Fox from hiring him to join their No. 2 team of Charles Davis and Kevin Burkhardt in the booth this upcoming NFL season.
I guess they needed a lazier, less knowledgeable perspective on color to counter Davis’ expertise and intellect. Oh, I kid.
Jay Cutler has been an easy player to shit on and not a lot of it has been his fault. It’s not like he’s a guy that’s bragged up his abilities and not shown them on the field. In fact, Cutler hasn’t done much talking at all. His lack of passion and leadership certainly affected his success on the football field, but he didn’t make the Chicago Bears overpay him in a huge, ridiculous contract a few years ago. They did that all by their stupid lonesomes.
wIsh jay cutler NoThINg buT the best IN his broadcasTing career
— Tom Crabtree (@itsCrab) May 5, 2017
The Bears finally had the window they needed to cut Cutler and he drifted around as a free agent before deciding to hang up his cleats and enter the broadcast booth. It’s a move that makes a to of sense for Cutler. He’s 34, has a family and has earned $112.196 million in his playing career. Throw on the six-digit payday from Fox here for the foreseeable future. He has Type 1 Diabetes and has only played two full seasons in the last four years.
Will Cutler still answer the call if a team requests his services? Probably not. There’s been no “return to the NFL clause” announced in his contract and he seems as apathetic as ever about a return to quarterbacking.
“Yeah, I think so. Yeah. I think so,” Cutler told a Chicago radio station. “It is. I don’t really see anything else happening. I’m happy with where I am, you know, in my life and really in the future going forward. So, yeah, we can go ahead and say it. It’s permanent.”
Adam Gase on Jay Cutler's personality: "I know a different guy than the one that's portrayed…A lot of things said about him are bullshit."
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) May 5, 2017
Still, as lackadaisical as he seems to take everything, Cutler says he’ll miss playing football.
“There is zero doubt in my mind that there is going to be some regret,” Cutler said. “… I have no doubt in my mind come the middle of August, September there is going to be that itch to play. There is going to be part of me that I know I can still do it. But that’s now how the cards played out, and that’s not where we are at. I just don’t feel comfortable with a situation in August or September of jumping back into it, even if that situation arises, which I don’t think it’s going to.”
What kind of legacy does Cutler leave with? Kind of a bummer one if you think about the beginning of his career with the Denver Broncos. He was in the perfect situation with head coach Mike Shanahan and was a much more fiery person back then. A leader. He went 7-9 and 8-8 his first two seasons starting as the Broncos were in a complete rebuild. The owner, Pat Bowlin, fired Shanahan after 2008 and new head coach Josh McDaniels immediately wanted to trade Cutler away for Matt Cassell of all people. It didn’t work out for anybody.
QB Jay Cutler tells @WaddleandSilvy his move to the FOX booth is "permanent." Adds: "Zero doubt in my mind there's going to be some regret."
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 5, 2017
Cutler had some solid seasons in Chicago. The Bears had two winning seasons in his tenure from 2009-2016 and made the playoffs once. Cutler was 1-1 in the playoffs. They beat the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round, but lost to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship. While they finished 10-6 in 2012, the Bears missed the playoffs in a tiebreaker with the Minnesota Vikings.
Jay Cutler isn’t going to be a guy people think about and wonder about missed opportunities, but it’s a decent thought experiment. What if Shanhan hadn’t been fired by the Broncos in 2008? What if Culter got to play his entire career in Denver under a top-tier NFL head coach instead of the list of scrubs like Lovie Smith and Marc Trestman? Certainly the entire NFL landscape would have been changed by that move.
Cutler will make his broadcast debut with his former team, covering the Chicago Bears at Tennessee Titans preseaosn game.
Tavon Austin has surgery
It should be a make or break year for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin and he’s already starting behind when it comes to new head coach Sean McVay’s offensive system. Austin recently had surgery on his left wrist and is expected to miss organized team activities.
Tavon Austin reportedly undergoes surgery: https://t.co/JWRmsFLcgZ pic.twitter.com/otGbIy4Jpi
— NFL (@NFL) May 5, 2017
The Rams have invested a lot of money in Austin, signing him to a four-year, $42 million extension last season), with not a whole lot to show for it. Considering that Austin hasn’t, for even a second, been coached by a legitimate offensive coach with NFL talent until this very year, it’s difficult to say how much he’s to blame for that. With McVay running the offense, this will be the first year Austin can really display what he can, or can’t, do. With the weapons the Rams have added in the offseason, this could be his only chance to do it.
Last year Austin caught a career-high 58 passes for a career-high 509 yard sand three touchdowns. He returned an NFL-high 44 punts for 336 yards. It was the first season Austin didn’t return a punt for a touchdown in his four-year career.
First round picks already signing
The money and contract length are no long issues thanks to the 2011 NFL collective bargaining agreement, but that doesn’t keep a few nuances from slowing down the signing of first round draft picks.
For two players, the wait is already over. The Carolina Panthers and running back Christian McCaffrey agreed to a four-year, $17.2 million contract with a $10.7 million signing bonus. The Panthers took McCaffrey, out of Stanford, at No. 8.
No. 16 pick Marlon Humphrey, cornerback from Alabama, also got his four-year deal wrapped up with the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens will have Humphrey’s services for the rest of Donald Trump’s presidential administration for $11.846 million with a $9 million signing bonus.
Other NFL news
The Chicago Bears signed former Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Jaye Howard to a one-year contract. Financial terms have not been disclosed. Howard finished last season on injured reserve with a hip injury. He played in eight games, started five and had 23 tackles and a sack.
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