NFL Week 11

No problem, sunshine.

 

We have a Mr. Sunshine. I'm just Fart from the block.

 

Dallas last year?
Terrible cap situation. Terrible D. QB taking a ton of heat. Mediocre team.
(In fairness Dallas' pass offense performed better through 16 weeks than Chicago's has up to this point: 10th in DVOA vs 16th).
But it's not a terrible comp.

 

Part of the problem is that as bad as Cutler has been, when the backup is Jimmy Clausen, there is never a chance that he gets benched. I don't see them signing Hoyer or Vick or Sanchez, but maybe they can get Mallett or Locker cheap. I could see one of those guys signing a one-year "prove it" deal where they'd be banking on seeing playing time if Cutler continues to play the way he has.

Also, if they use a first or second round pick on a QB, that guy would be an absolute bargain compared to other NFL quarterbacks. They may be drafting high enough to grab one of the top 3 QBs. Suffer through 2015 and then get rid of him after that season if he hasn't improved.

 

For the record, I'm not in any way saying Clausen would be better.

I'm saying they could (should) look seriously at a veteran backup with playing potential in the off-season, and have them compete.

 

The Dallas situation is most similar to this because one would assume they had buyer's remorse less than a year after giving Romo his monster deal. Well, he's doing pretty well right about now.

Romo may have a reputation for being a choke artist, but he's not the head case Cutler is.

 

I also don't think Trestman is getting fired. That puts Emery in the hot seat as well, because that's his guy. And Emery's not going to put himself in that situation if he doesn't absolutely have to. Their schedule down the stretch is weak enough that they have a good chance to get to 7-9 or something, or even 6-10 should be plenty.

Load up on veteran free agents in the offseason, become mystified when they've lost a step from their primes and aren't as good for you, then everyone gets fired and the rebuilding starts for real in 2016.

 

Right. One would hope that competition might bring something out of Cutler. It worked for Tannehill in Miami. He was threatened with being benched and he immediately started playing much better, not that he's anything great.

You can't threaten to bench Cutler when all you have is Jimmy Clausen.

 

I don't think Trestman is getting fired, either.

 

Based on the way the Bears usually handle their coaches, it would be a bit surprising to see them fire Trestman. I think they gave him a four-year deal. I don't see them letting him go with two years left.

 

There was also this Florio troll entry
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/11/11/why-not-shanahan-as-next-bears-coach/

 

If they can find credible competition for Cutler on the cheap, fine, but they just can't afford the luxury of a draft pick or cap space on a good backup.

Even if you could magically transport a credible NFL coaching staff in for 2015, your best bet is to fill the other holes and pray that you get a good year out of Cutler. If/when that fails, you can begin the real bottom-up rebuild the next year.

The Bears needs in FA and the draft for next year include:
A speed-threat WR (the lack of one is *killing* the offense right now. Secondaries are clogging up the intermediate routes because they know that neither Marshall nor Jeffery is a threat to run by them).
An offensive lineman. Preferably two, or you have no depth.
A second RB, and that's praying that Forte continues to defy the normal RB career path.
At least one athletic DL and probably two
A full set of starting linebackers
3/4ths of a secondary.
A whole slew of backups who can play a credible special teams.

That's already more than their draft picks and cap space can handle, before you start worrying about a backup QB.


After 2015, you can dump Cutler and Marshall, Forte will probably be done, and you can bring in a new coach with a relatively blank slate to start building from scratch.