Jay Cutler Will Be The Chicago Bears 2015 Starting Quarterback

Dec 15, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) passes during the second half against the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field. New Orleans won 31-15. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

After Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman decided to bench quarterback Jay Cutler for the final two games of the NFL regular season, speculation ran rampant that Cutler has played his last snap for the Bears and could not possibly return to being the Bears’ starting quarterback. In about a month or two from now, that speculation will seem silly. 

The benching of quarterback Jay Cutler by Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman has brought out the conspiracy theorists.

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Cutler’s benching means that the quarterback will be traded by the Bears after the season.

Cutler’s benching means that the quarterback is going to be released by the Bears before the start of the new league year.

Cutler’s benching is Trestman’s attempt to save his job by having Jimmy Clausen come in and succeed in the team’s final two games.

There is one statement that can put to rest all of the aforementioned theories. That statement is that Cutler will be the Bears’ starting quarterback in 2015.

If the Bears were going to trade Cutler and benched him to eliminate the chances of an injury, the veteran quarterback would not be active in the Bears’ final two games of the regular season. Instead, Cutler will presumably be the backup quarterback in the Bears’ final two games.

If the Bears were going to release Cutler, that would mean that the team already has a quarterback in mind that they want to bring on the team. The chances of that are highly unlikely considering the fact that Brian Hoyer and Mark Sanchez top the list of free agent quarterbacks and both Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota will be off the draft board by the time the Bears are on the clock.

There is no saving Trestman’s job.

So, then why did Trestman bench Cutler?

Trestman benched Cutler because the head coach knows that he will be fired come December 29 and wanted to give the biggest “F*** You” to Cutler and Bears’ general manager Phil Emery.

By all accounts, Emery was against the decision to bench Cutler. The reason why Emery did not force Trestman’s hand and veto the Cutler benching is because of what the future holds. Emery, starting with his stance on offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer, has began to distance himself away from Trestman. The distance created will make it easier for Emery when he talks about Trestman’s firing after the season.

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That is nice but where do Emery and Cutler go post-Trestman?

There will be a new head coach brought in and that head coach likely will be someone who has previous head coaching experience and is intelligent enough to know that this is not the right time to part ways with Cutler. Moving Cutler now would cost the Bears’ too much and limit the team’s efforts to improve their defense and other areas of weakness.

Cutler will then go back to being the starting quarterback of the Bears while playing for a head coach that isn’t Trestman and a general manager in Emery that believes in the quarterback’s talent.

If this benching does serve a purpose, it is that it puts Cutler on notice. Notice that his play must improve or next off-season will indeed be the time that Cutler and the Bears part ways.