![19 September 2016: Chicago Bears Quarterback Jay Cutler (6) [7816] during an NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears at Solider Field in Chicago, IL. (Photo by Daniel Bartel/Icon Sportswire)](../../../wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/09/20082125/DEX160919027_EAGLES_AT_BEARS1.jpg)
The Chicago Bears’ start to their 2016 season hasn’t gone nearly as they or their fans had hoped. After grabbing an early lead in each of their first two games against the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles, they imploded.
Against the Texans, they were up 7-0, yet went on to lose 23-14 after failing to score a single point in the second half. When taking on the Eagles on Monday night, they went up 7-3 early in the second, but couldn’t score a single offensive point the rest of the game.
The Bears offense isn’t what fans had hoped it would be, not even close. Through the first two games, the Bears have 542 total offensive yards, good for No. 31 in the NFL, ahead of only the Los Angeles Rams, who haven’t scored an offensive touchdown all season.
Now, the Bears are going to be without Jay Cutler for an extended period of time, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
Cutler’s injury, paired with the fact that the Bears have struggled even with him, have posed a question in Chicago. Is it time for this team just to begin a full rebuild?
It’s hard to argue against it, as the Bears haven’t topped the .500 mark in the past four seasons, and haven’t made the playoffs since 2010. Since Cutler got under center back in 2009, the team has been the definition of mediocre, going 50-49 in his 99 starts. The answer at their future starting quarterback isn’t on the roster currently, but what about in the upcoming draft?
Names like Deshaun Watson and DeShone Kizer are running through the minds of Bears fans at this point, largely due to the fact that the playoffs seem like a long shot at this point, to put it nicely. And why wouldn’t they? The Bears haven’t had an electrifying playmaker at the position in years, as well as a player who can change the game at any given moment.
Realistically, Chicago’s contract extension from back in 2014 didn’t look great on paper, but the good news is, they can cut him in 2017 and save $14 million in cap space while suffering just $2 million in dead money, according to Over The Cap.
The Bears have the potential to part ways with Cutler and bring in the player who they believe is the right man for the job, and that’s probably the way that the bulk of the fanbase, as well as the front office, may be leaning currently.
It’s never fun for a team to be playing for a draft pick, but whether Cutler was on the field or not, the facts are simple. The Bears may be in a prime spot to make a drastic change, and there are plenty of playmakers in the upcoming draft who could wind up immediately making an impact for this franchise.
Bears fans deserve their future at the position, and now they’ll just have to suffer through one brutal season before potentially getting him.
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