Why The Bears Benched Jay Cutler After Giving Him $54 Million

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The Chicago Bears will bench Jay Cutler and start Jimmy Clausen at quarterback in Week 16, according to widespread reports.

It's a shocker.

Cutler signed a massive contract extension in January that pays him $54 million guaranteed. He'll make $15.5 million guaranteed in 2015 and $16 million guaranteed in 2016. So in guaranteed salary he ranks among the top quarterbacks in the league, even though his performance been well short of that this year.

While Cutler has been wildly inconsistent over the past five years and an utter turnover machine in 2014, his talent is overwhelming, and he has shown flashes of brilliance during his time in Chicago. When you consider Cutler's experience, potential, and massive contract, it was assumed that the Bears were committed to him for the long haul.

But 11 months after giving Cutler a boatload of guaranteed money, the Bears have benched him.

The best explanation we've heard comes from ESPN Chicago beat writer Michael C. Wright.

Wright's argument is that coach Marc Trestman benched Cutler in a last-ditch effort to save his own job. Trestman is 13-17 in his two years in Chicago and very much on the hot seat.

If Trestman can win the last two games without Cutler - or at least show that his offensive system works in the hands of a capable quarterback - he can write off the team's struggles as a quarterbacking problem, not a coaching problem.

From Wright:

Former Bears backup Josh McCown played within the confines of Trestman's scheme last season, filling in for an injured Cutler and finishing with 13 touchdown passes and one interception while setting the single-season franchise record for passer rating (109.0). While it would be foolish to expect similar success from Clausen against the Lions on Sunday, what Trestman is likely counting on from the backup is for him to simply execute the offense the way he's asked to, as opposed to freestyling and making the types of game-changing mistakes seen from Cutler. 

It may be far-fetched to believe at this point that Trestman can save his job, but if he can find a way to defeat Detroit and the Lions' vaunted defense with Clausen at the controls, the coach might be able to prove to ownership that he's not the issue pulling down the team; that it was actually Cutler. 

It's similar to what Jay Gruden did with Robert Griffin III in Washington. By distancing themselves from their big-name quarterbacks, these coaches are separating themselves from the failures of the team.

According to ESPN Chicago's Jeff Dickerson, Bears players are very much #TeamCutler. They think there's a double standard going on here between Cutler and offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer, who tearfully apologized to the team for anonymously criticizing Cutler to an NFL Network reporter last week:

Conclusion: There is genuine disbelief inside #Bears' locker room that Cutler got benched & Aaron Kromer only received slap on the wrist.

- Jeff Dickerson (@ESPNChiBears) December 18, 2014

Say what you will about Cutler, but the punishments are viewed as extraordinarily inconsistent.

- Jeff Dickerson (@ESPNChiBears) December 18, 2014

Cutler has his share of detractors, but plenty inside the locker room are confused and uncomfortable with how these situations were handled.

- Jeff Dickerson (@ESPNChiBears) December 18, 2014

It's hard to imagine a scenario in which both Cutler and Trestman are back next year. You keep Trestman only if you believe he can succeed with a good quarterback, and you can believe he can succeed with a good quarterback only if you assume Cutler is bad. 

On the other hand, if ownership still believes in Cutler (or, if the team can't stomach abandoning its $54 million investment), it will find a coach who can put him in position to succeed.

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