If Brandon Marshall said it, we have to believe it. Right? If we should believe Marshall, who will probably later be creditied as "a person close to the situation," at his postgame press conference Sunday night, Jay Cutler will be back as quarterback of the Bears. And with him Josh McCown needs to be back, too. But let's start with Cutler.
It seems all parties involved want there to be a contract signed to keep Cutler, the Bears' franchise leader for passing yards, under contract going forward. From General Manager Phil Emery and the signal caller himself, the writing seems to be on the wall.
The only group that seems to be torn on this matter is some Bears fans. To steal a line from Stephen A. Smith "The fact of the matter is this..." No Bears offense has produce like the Bears offense did this season, under this coaching staff, with these weapons, than it has in the history of the team.
Cutler, the all-time leader in passing yards in franchise history with 14,913 yards. And he did that in only five seasons under center. The sky seems to be the limit with Cutler having Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Martellus Bennet and Matt Forte to throw the ball to for the forseable future under the tutelage of head coach Marc Trestman. At some point over the next two years Cutler will become the all-time touchdown leader with the Bears, needing just 36 to tie Sid Luckman, who has 137.
We all knew what Marshall brought to the table this year. His numbers came down a little bit, with 94 catches for 1,221 yards and 11 touchdowns, but that helped the Bears offense become multidimensional and Jeffery emerged as a top-tier receiver in this league with 86 catches for 1,341 yards and seven touchdowns. Add to that Martelus Bennett's 64 catches for 744 yards and five TDs and the Bears have big targets to make defenses crazy.
Would a change make sense there? No. Keep the parties invovled intact moving forward and let them keep building a chemistry that could carry this team going forward. It's one of those things where if a change is giong to be made, there has to be good reason. Do not do it for the sake of making a change.
Going into the draft looking to land a quarterback would be something to do with Cutler on the tail end of his career. But not right now.
To that end, that emplores the Bears to bring McCown back, too. Some would ask why he would settle to be a backup when some team has to give him a starting job, but he seemed content being the backup in Chicago this year and this system is one he flourished in during his time with Cutler out with injury. It only makes sense the Bears would entertain the idea and they should.
For those asking, why pay a backup QB decent money, take a look around the league. Sure the Packers made the playoffs this season, but it wasn't pretty and there was a huge let down. The Bears didn't have that this year. The backup quarterback is the most important guy on the team everyone hopes never sees the field.
When called upon, McCown delivered by completing 149 of 224 passes for over 1,800 yards and 13 touchdowns to just one interception, which computes to a 109 passer rating.
With Cutler's history of missing 12 games over the past three seasons, having a solid backup QB would be an important signing for stability of this team. That makes McCown, who is also one of Jay's best friends, that much more important to this team.
Note: This is my second blog in a week and I have plans for many more over the next month. Be sure to check my Twitter @acwilber for links and comment with any questions you have about my two favorite teams, the Bears and Brewers.
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