Jay Cutler NFL Rumors: Agent Says Quarterback ‘Wants To Play Football’
It has been a relatively quiet offseason for Jay Cutler in his first experience as an unrestricted free agent in his NFL career. In truth, there hasn’t been much talk about possible landing spots for the veteran quarterback through the first several weeks of the free agency period.
According to ESPN, Jay Cutler’s agent, Bus Cook, has made it known that his client has no intention of retiring at this point in time.
“He never has mentioned retirement to me,” Bus Cook told ESPN.
“Jay Cutler, as far as I know, is ready to play and wants to play, and his skill set is as good as any quarterback in the league.”
Since being released by the Chicago Bears in early March after eight full seasons with the team, Jay Cutler has been on the open market without any significant interest across the league in his services. There are a few teams that possess the need for a viable starting quarterback such as the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and San Francisco 49ers, but none of these organizations have expressed any real consideration of working out a deal with Cutler.
Jay Cutler is coming off a disappointing 2016 season that was cut short after just five games due to a labrum injury. This marked the fewest games that Cutler has played in any season in a Bears’ uniform while also holding career lows in both total quarterback rating (27.8) and passer rating (78.1).
The decision to part ways with Cutler came shortly after the team agreed to a three-year, $45 million deal with quarterback Mike Glennon, who served as Jameis Winston’s backup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season and hadn’t had any significant playing time since the 2014 campaign. On top of that, the Bears also decided last month to bring in another option behind Glennon in Mark Sanchez, who has become a journeyman quarterback in the league over the last few seasons since leaving the Jets.
Jay Cutler is Chicago’s all-time leader in quarterback wins (51), passing yards (23,443), and touchdown passes (154), but that didn’t equate to much overall team success leading the Bears to just one playoff appearance. What also hurt the market for Cutler has been his strong reputation in regards to lacking poor leadership skills that have often come into serious question over the last several years with Chicago struggling to find any consistency with him under center.
In fact, Jay Cutler has failed in many ways to capitalize on his talent that could have led the Bears to multiple playoff appearances. However, Cutler fell short in several different aspects, throwing 109 interceptions in 102 regular-season games, including tossing a career-worst 25 picks in the 2009 season.
All of this has made it difficult for any franchise to commit to Jay Cutler as being their answer at quarterback even if it is just for next season. That said, things could foreseeably pick up for Cutler after the 2017 NFL Draft that is set to begin on Thursday night after teams get a clearer picture to their respective situations at the position heading into offseason workouts and other team activities.
It may come to the point where Jay Cutler will have to strongly consider the scenario of him being a backup due to the utter lack of interest from any organization. Cutler has shown to still have starting quarterback ability, but no team appears willing to go that route with him at this current juncture.
There may be plenty of time before the start of training camp, but it doesn’t look like Jay Cutler will land in a spot that he views as ideal for what he hopes to be the next chapter of his NFL career. It has simply become a long winding downhill road with the only reality left being that Cutler must accept a backup role if he wants to continue playing in the league.
[Featured Image by Roger Steinman/AP Images]
