Friday open thread: Are you happy the Bears are moving on from Jay Cutler?

This week, news leaked that the Chicago Bears are trying to shop Jay Cutler to the highest bidder. There are even hilarious rumors that the Bears are willing to accept a return of just a seventh round pick in 2019.

The Bears are unlikely to find a suitor, because Cutler still has four years remaining on his monster contract, with an average cap hit of over $18 million per year. So when the Bears eventually realize they won’t find a team willing to take on that contract, Chicago is expected to release him. That move will immediately clear out over $12 million in cap space for the Bears and mark the beginning of a new era in Chicago.

In his 11-year career, Jay Cutler has faced the Detroit Lions 14 times, more than any other team in the league. Cutler is an even 7-7 in those games. So today’s Question of the Day is:

Are you happy the Bears are getting rid of Jay Cutler?

My answer: A little bit, yes. While it was always fun to rag on Cutler, and his best days are certainly behind him, I think he has mostly been underrated for his entire career. While he was prone to backbreaking mistakes, he also had underrated footwork and could extend plays that killed the Lions in the past. Though he won as many games as he lost against Detroit, he statistics were still pretty good. Against the Lions, he completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 89.4 passer rating.

But the biggest reason I am happy the Bears are moving on to a new quarterback is because it is extremely difficult to find a franchise quarterback starting from scratch. Chicago doesn’t currently have a quarterback who will step in and lead the franchise into the future. It could be Jimmy Garoppolo, it could be someone in the 2017 NFL Draft, but one wrong decision could set the team back for at least five years.

Of course, if the Bears end up making a good decision at quarterback, they could be a contender for years to come, but people underestimate just how hard that is. Chicago will have to get a little lucky to have a quarterback as good as Cutler in the next couple years.

Your turn.