(Update on this situation, via Rapoport on 12-14-14)
For the 2014 Chicago Bears, tragedy has become farce. With the Aaron Kromer versus Jay Cutler he said, he said, tragedy has become comedy. So it’s comedically tragic. Or tragically comedic. Or tragicomedy, or…..well, just when you were ready to check out of the ’14 Chicago Bears season, they keep pulling you back in. However, for all the wrong reasons.
Today’s media availability for Jay Cutler, Marc Trestman, Aaron Kromer etc. could be very interesting.
Or not.
You already know how it’s been weeks since Trestman has said anything remotely interesting. He’ll probably be vanilla today again; in spite of all the chaos. Cutler has never said anything remotely interesting at a presser- ever. That won’t change today. It is humorous that an organization which puts everyone on a “need to know” basis, which tries to cloud everything that happens within it in extreme secrecy, is seeing all the dirty laundry aired out in public.
To recap, via the Chicago Tribune:
-The offense learned that Monday in a meeting room at Halas Hall when offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer made an emotional and tearful apology for criticizing the quarterback in a private conversation at Soldier Field with an NFL Network reporter last week. With Cutler in the room, Kromer did admit however to being frustrated with the quarterback’s play management and expressing that to Ian Rapoport as he left Soldier Field on Dec. 4 after the fifth loss in seven games. Cutler shook his head during Kromer’s apology, one source said.
Kromer claims he isn’t the leak who told NFL Network that the organization has buyer’s remorse on the Cutler contract. Maybe that’s true, but most will have a hard time believing that. Kromer has essentially tendered his resignation by making this admission, and that’s probably why he cried. There is no coming back from something like this. NFLN also reported that Defensive Coordinator Mel Tucker will be dismissed, so it appears the Chicago Bears will have two new coordinators in 2015.
Perhaps the jobs of Kromer and Tucker are the sacrifice in order to give Trestman another season?
What about the future of Cutler?
going back to the Trib:
-Cutler is on the verge of a handful of single-season passing records, but that speaks to the franchise’s historical mismanagement of the position and coach Marc Trestman’s lopsided play-calling as much as anything else. Cutler leads the NFL with 21 turnovers and the offense has been mired in a season-long slump, unable to reach 30 points in a game.
Cutler has a history of going through coaches in quick order. In his sixth season since coming over in a 2009 trade with the Broncos, he is on his second head coach, fourth offensive coordinator and fourth quarterbacks coach.
If Trestman and his staff are ushered out at the end of the month, the Bears will go back to the drawing board for a fifth time with Cutler unless they decide to part ways with the player. It will be challenging to find a trade partner to take on his contract. And if the Bears release the 31-year-old, they will have to write him a check for $15.5 million for not playing for them in 2015, meaning he would collect $38 million for one season of work (2014).
That giant passage of text is surreal to read. So many of those sentences just seem so unbelievable. Yet Rich Campbell’s writing above is 100% true to the core. There is nothing exaggerated or hyperbolic about any of it. The idea that Trestman is in over his head and Cutler’s reputation as a coach killer both just got a lot more validity today. At this point there really isn’t much more that needs to be said.
Your 2014 Chicago Bears everybody, your 2014 Chicago Bears.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2