Jay Cutler agrees to terms on a one year contract with the Miami Dolphins. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the deal is worth $10 million with an additional $3 million in incentives . Cutler recently signed to Fox as an in-game TV analyst, as a part of a three man broadcast team. Before taking the TV analyst position, Cutler had spent most of his NFL career with the Chicago Bears.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reports that Miami Dolphins head coach, Adam Gase, played a significant role in getting Cutler to leave quasi-retirement to return to the football gridiron. Gase was the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears for one of Cutler’s best seasons as an NFL quarterback.
With Gase as his offensive coordinator in 2015, Cutler threw for 3,659 yards with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Cutler had a completion percentage of 64.4 percent that season.
The unexpected opportunity to compete for the starting quarterback job in Miami arose as the result of incumbent starter, Ryan Tannehill sustaining a non-contact injury to his knee during practice.
Matt Moore, a ten year NFL veteran, is Cutler’s main competition for the starting job. Moore has been a backup for the majority of his NFL career.
Other potential free agent candidates rumored to have been an option for the Miami Dolphins, included embattled quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick is a pro bowl NFL quarterback that has led his previous team to a Super Bowl appearance. Kaepernick is noted for his human rights protests against U.S. police officers for the recidivist human rights violation of killing unarmed American citizens of black descent. Kaepernick is widely regarded by NFL players and pundits as being the best free agent NFL quarterback available.
Sports analysts for Fox and ESPN, to include Skip Bayless, Shannon Sharpe, Max Kellerman, and Stephen A. Smith have been hyper critical of Cutler’s ability to guide an NFL franchise to the Super Bowl as its starting quarterback.
It is widely rumored in NFL circles that Cutler quit on his teammates during the NFC championship game against the Green Bay Packers on January 23, 2011. The Chicago Bears were defeated by the Green Bay Packers 21-14. Cutler did not play after the second quarter, although he was shown numerous times riding the exercise bike on the sideline during the game.
The extent of the injury to Tannehill’s knee and the time frame for his return is unknown at this time.
[Featured Image by Nam Y. Huh/AP Images]
