FINALLY, Jay Cutler has come back to football.
No, he won’t be re-joining the Chicago Bears’ quarterback room. But it appears as if the Bears’ all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns, completion percentage, quarterback wins, and several other categories is making his return to football:
The #Dolphins are signing QB Jay Cutler to a 1-year contract worth $10M, source said. There are incentives in there, too.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 6, 2017
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports Cutler is signing a one-year deal worth $10 million (plus incentives) to join the Miami Dolphins, who were dealt a blow last week when starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a knee injury in a non-contact drill. If you’ll recall, Tannehill had a knee injury that caused him to miss time at the end of last year – including Miami’s playoff loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card round.
The signing re-unites Cutler with Adam Gase, who was his offensive coordinator for his last full season in Chicago. Back in 2015, Cutler played 15 games and threw for 3,659 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He posted a career-best 92.3 passer rating and a 2.3 percent interception rate that was his lowest since 2011 (2.2 INT%). Cutler and Gase seemed to click in Chicago, which makes sense of this tandem’s South Beach get-together.
Things went south for Cutler after Gase left town to become the Dolphins’ head coach last season. Cutler played in just five games in Dowell Loggains’ offense, but completed just 59.1 percent of his passes, and threw more interceptions (5) than touchdowns (4).
Instead of joining the No. 2 broadcast team for FOX Sports – a gig that would have had him announcing the Bears’ third preseason game against the Tennessee Titans and their season opener against the Atlanta Falcons at Soldier Field – Cutler hops on board a 10-win team that made the playoffs last season. After being passed up by the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, Cutler will get one last ride in the NFL.