Troy Aikman’s reaction on Tuesday was nearly identical to the one he had 12 years ago when I asked him a related question on the topic of the Bears’ quarterback situation or quandary, if you will.
It was before Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville that I asked him why Sid Luckman still held the majority of significant career passing records for the franchise. Aikman slowly pushed back from the table, turned toward me laughing and said he wanted an answer to the very same question.
On Tuesday, Aikman and the Fox talent preparing for Super Bowl LI had a free-forum media availability where I asked the Hall of Fame quarterback and Fox analyst about the Bears’ current quarterback predicament. He chuckled again although it’s hardly a laughing matter for fans.
“What do the Bears need to do?” Aikman said. “Man, I don’t know. I know they had something good going with Adam Gase when he was there and Jay (Cutler) has been through a number of coordinators and that certainly hasn’t helped.”
Aikman’s remarks were as kind as they came for Cutler. While there is not a clear-cut solution to the franchise’s quarterback situation, the consensus from Super Bowl LI is it’s time for a change. Cutler is under contract through 2020, but no guaranteed money remains in the deal and the team could trade or release him and incur only a $2 million cap hit. The waiver system opens on Monday but the Bears could not trade Cutler until the start of the new league year on March 9. There is no mechanism in his contract that would give the Bears more financial freedom by removing him from the roster early.
Halas Hall Pass: Bears begin quarterback search
Tribune reporters Dan Wiederer and Rich Campbell discuss the beginning of the Bears’ quarterback search on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, in Mobile, Ala.
Tribune reporters Dan Wiederer and Rich Campbell discuss the beginning of the Bears’ quarterback search on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, in Mobile, Ala.
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Former Bears cornerback Charles Tillman, who has launched a career with Fox, believes Cutler’s time at Halas Hall has run its course.
“I think they will probably find a new (quarterback),” Tillman Trbet said. “I think the writing is on the wall. I think they might have to part ways. Eight years is a long time. … He probably knows that. I think they probably know that.”
Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw had just finished criticizing Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler when the subject turned to Cutler.
“Oh my god, this is great,” Bradshaw said. “I get to talk more stuff here than I do on the show. Yeah, I don’t like Cutler either. I just don’t like anybody. No, it’s time for him to go. Yeah, we gotta get rid of him. You know what, I said on the air one day watching him, I said, ‘You know what Jay? You’ve got a gorgeous wife. Beautiful kids. You’re making $20 million a year. How about a smile?’
“That’s a damn good job playing quarterback in the NFL, huh? How about a little excitement? How about something from you? He’s just not an upper echelon quarterback. He just isn’t. He hasn’t proven it. He can’t carry a team. He never has. End of story.”
Former Bears quarterback Kordell Stewart also laughed at the question of what the Bears should do at quarterback?
“Get another one,” Stewart said. “You may have Tony Romo out there. He went to Eastern Illinois.”
But Romo turns 37 in April and has appeared in five games over the last two seasons.
A look at the Bears’ quarterbacks through the years, from 1934 to present-day.
Not pictured: Steve Bradley (1 game; 1987), Greg Landry (1 game; 1984), John Huarte (2 games; 1972), Kent Nix (9 games; 1970-71), Tommy O’Connell (12 games; 1953), Tom Farris (20 games; 1946-47), Johnny Long (12 games; 1944-45), Bill Glenn (2 games; 1944), Charlie O’Rourke (11 games; 1942), Young Bussey (10 games; 1941), Solly Sherman (14 games; 1939-40) and Bernie Masterson (72 games; 1934-40). | source: pro-football-reference.com
“Hey, Romo is better than what they’ve got,” Stewart said. “But they have Brian Hoyer. I think he had, in all seriousness, a lot of success in the short time he was in. Much more productive than Jay Cutler. He took care of the football, which Jay wasn’t doing. That nonchalant energy sometimes from afar can be a little misconstrued or misunderstood even though it’s good talent. But the energy that Brian Hoyer gave the Bears is so much better because he was live in the pocket. His energy and his disposition in the pocket had so much energy to the point where you could tell when he made decisions throwing the football. It was with that same type of intensity.
“I know how you feel about Tony Romo as far as injuries go but that’s a great get and he can stretch the field and he has a gunslinger’s mentality and he’s still has some football left, at least a good three years.
"Cutler is probably the first quarterback that showed a glimpse of something good as far as the coaching staff is concerned, believing in him. I mean, I was a part of the 50 quarterbacks they had over the last 15 or 20 years.”
Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson also advocates for change.
“Woo,” Johnson said when the topic was broached. “The Bears? Cutler has had a lot of opportunities with a lot of coaches. And there is a reason why he’s had a lot of different opportunities with a lot of different coaches. He hasn’t been successful with any of them. He is a very talented individual but for some reason they haven’t been able to get over the hump.
“I would say time for a new guy.”
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