Now, wouldn’t this be something?
Mike Garafolo reports Jay Cutler, who hasn’t retired just yet, has auditioned to potentially transition into a role as a football commentator.
Cutler wasn’t known for his media-friendly demeanor during his time in Chicago, but I can envision him being the NFL’s answer to Simon Cowell in the booth, studio, or on the sidelines.
When and where can I tune in for this?
Also: what a reminder of just how far things have come for the Bears, Cutler, and the team’s *two* new quarterbacks, all just in the last three months.
The Bears and GM Ryan Pace have taken a lot of heat for doing what they did to get North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky … and they simply don’t care about how those outside Halas Hall care about the transaction. Greg Robinson of Yahoo! Sports details how not having a quarterback makes teams do things that might seem curious to others, with the Bears being the latest team to make a high profile move as they desperately seek a potential long-term answer at the sport’s most important position.
If they did, then they might be interested in a piece like this from NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, who lists the Bears’ drafting Trubisky second as one of the five most head-scratching moves of the draft. This isn’t to say Jeremiah didn’t like the trade (he says the deal to get Trubisky didn’t bother him). Instead, Jeremiah didn’t value Trubisky as a top-5 pick – even if he sees where the move could work out because of the Bears’ strength along the interior of the offensive line and in the running game.
As for drafting Trubisky with Mike Glennon already in tow, CSN Chicago’s John Mullin points out that it’s a Bears tradition of sorts – dating all the way back to 1948. In more modern times, the Bears used a first-round pick on Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh when Jim McMahon was an established starter in 1987. Cade McNown was the pick when Shane Matthews was the starter-to-be in 1999. Other teams have done it, too. The Seahawks drafted Russell Wilson after giving Matt Flynn a decent payday. The Redskins took it to another level when the team drafted Kirk Cousins in the fourth round after trading up to draft Robert Griffin III in the same draft class. Maybe it’s a trend, but teams are starting to double-down on the game’s most important spot.
In case you’re curious about how the 2017 roster might shape up, Chris Roling of Bleacher Report has an early projection of the Bears’ 2017 starting lineup.
One of the most intriguing recruiting jobs this offseason was done by the Bears in bringing in a former college basketball standout to take another shot at football. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune has the details of how the Bears scooped up Ball State basketball player Franko House and sold him on a return to football.
Also at the Tribune, Dan Wiederer catches up with Adam Shaheen’s tight ends coach at Ashland University. It is the latest in the look at the Bears’ draft picks from the perspective of the position coaches who built them up over the years. Wiederer allows Reggie Gamble to weave through Shaheen’s growth from a basketball project, to a Chipotle eating machine, and eventually into a second-round pick.
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