Jay Cutler’s Benching Should Be Celebrated in Chicago

When the Bears benched Jay Cutler for Jimmy Clausen this week, they signaled the end of Cutler’s time in Chicago.  Celebrate Chicago, celebrate!

If there’s any city in the continental 48 states that needs a win it’s the city of Chicago.  From the continued nightmare that is the Cubs, to the continued injuries that are the Chicago Bulls this city has been loyal without the reward of a big-time championship.  Toss in the Chicago Bears disappointments over the last few decades and you could nearly call it a city in sports turmoil.

So when the Chicago Bears decided to bench franchise quarterback Jay Cutler this week in favor or Jimmy Clausen, the Bears made a statement against struggling: “no more.”

In Monday night’s loss against the Saints, Cutler threw three more interceptions to increase his league leading total in interceptions to 18 and turnovers to 24.  He was also sacked a season-high seven times.

When he was told he was benched for Clausen, Cutler told the press on Thursday: “Shocked I think at first, I didn’t see it coming.”

Really?  Shocked?

It’s not like the Bears aren’t a disappointing 5-9 going into Sunday’s game, not like Cutler doesn’t lead the league in turnovers, not like the Bears have only been to the playoffs once in the Jay Cutler era and not like the Bears offense hasn’t been as close to inept this year either.  (In case you’re wondering, they’ve been all of these things.)

But Cutler does deserve a bit of credit for his 2014 season.  Despite the poor play offensively, Cutler has thrown for 3,640 yards to this point with a career-high 28 touchdowns, completing a career-high 66 percent of his passes.

You would think the Bears would be 9-5 with Cutler’s numbers, but that isn’t the case.  And now, the problem seems to be fixed.  Or patched.  For now.

“I think we need a lift at quarterback.  We need a spark,” Bears head coach Marc Trestman said also mentioning that the “weight of the world shouldn’t be on the shoulders of Jimmy Clausen.”

“He [Clausen} is going to get a chance to play, and I’m hoping that our team, against a very good defense…that there will be some response from our football team.  I’m looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.” If it unfolds well, benching Cutler could help the Bears shop him around or cut him during the offseason, a move that would save the Bears $10 million and a lot more pain and frustration.

But also remember that the guy replacing Cutler has a 1-9 career record as a starter in his rookie season in Carolina (which was followed by the arrival of Cam Newton) and hasn’t played much since.

Cutler is owed $15.5 million next season, which is reportedly fully guaranteed, however with teams that have serious quarterback needs like the Jets, Rams, Bills, Bucs, Texans and possibly the Titans could or should consider Cutler if they cannot or do not draft a top-flight quarterback in the 2015 draft.

If Clausen cannot get the job done, they have a questionable and possible future of the franchise in rookie David Fales, the Bears’ sixth-round pick from San Jose State who’s shown good accuracy and decision making during his time with the Spartans, throwing for over 4,000 yards with 33 touchdowns and just nine interceptions, completing 72.5 percent of his passes.

If it counts for anything, Tom Brady was a sixth round pick and if the Bears are benching their $100 million franchise quarterback, might as well see what the kid can do.

Don’t worry Chicago, there’s only two more weeks of speculation, torture and frustration.  Just two more weeks, then spring training is right around the corner.

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