Few professional athletes have a “defining year” at the age of 33, but that’s how The MMQB’s Emily Kaplan summed up Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler’s 2016 season. And it makes sense, because the 10-year veteran is coming off the highest-rated season of his NFL career.
The former turnover machine had just 11 interceptions and a pick rate of 2.3 percent, which was by far the lowest of his career. He also completed 64.4 percent of his passes for over 3,500 yards, despite not having star wide receiver Alshon Jeffery for half the season and star tight end Martellus Bennett for a handful of games.
Now, though, Jeffery is healthy, as is 2015 first-round pick Kevin White, who missed his entire rookie season with a leg injury. With Jeffery and White and an above-average line, Cutler could be ready to take the next step.
And it helps, as Kaplan points out, that the Bears appear to be going out of their way to make their quarterback comfortable.
The Bears could have made a splashy outside hire to replace [Adam] Gase, who’s now the head coach in Miami, but they instead promoted quarterback coach Dowell Loggains. He is Cutler’s sixth offensive coordinator in eight years, but there’s built-in familiarity.
“It was critical to keep Jay comfortable,” [John] Fox says. “Everything comes through the quarterback, so keeping Jay in the same system is best for us.”
Translation: The Bears are giving Cutler his best opportunity to thrive in 2016. If he regresses? Pace will start doing recon on the 2017 quarterback draft class.
Few players take “next steps” at that age, but the support is there and Cutler’s task is clear. The man has won just a single playoff game and has taken part in just two in his entire decade-long career. The Bears haven’t posted a winning record since 2012 and haven’t been to the playoffs since 2010. But Cutler’s leash has been longer than many would have expected, but this might be a make-or-break season.
And it might also be his best.
