Monday night’s Chicago Bears’ victory against Green Bay did not create a quarterback controversy.
Certainly, backup QB Josh McCown’s sharp execution of the Bears’ offense against the Packers and two weeks ago against Washington gives the Bears the luxury of patiently waiting for startingย QB Jay Cutler to fully recover fromย the groin injury he sustained on October 20 that initially was expected to sideline him for at least four weeks.
Reports now indicate that Cutler could start as early as this week against Detroit, just three weeks from the date he suffered the injury.
The last six quartersย of McCown’s surgical execution ofย theย offense has reinforced the notion that Bears’ head coach Marc Trestman is synynomous with successfully coaching quarterbacks of all shapes, sizes, pedigrees and skill sets.ย When Trestman was hired by the Bears, former quarterbacks Steve Young and Rich Gannon,ย who played under Trestmanย whenย he wasย their offensive coordinator,ย lavished praise on Trestman for ingeniouslyย designing schemes that maximize quarterbacks’ strengths.
We areย not minimizing McCown’sย recent success, but the journeyman whose quarterback rating in four seasons with Arizona was 72.1, in one season with Oakland was 69.4 and two seasonsย withย Carolina was a woeful 39.6 is further proof thatย Trestman’s system helps elevate the quarterback and not vice versa.ย In relief of Cutler, McCown has completed 36 of 61 passes for 476 yardsย and three touchdowns without an interception for a QB rating of 100.2.ย Cutler is also enjoyingย the bestย QB rating of his eight-year career despite having played several seasons under head coach and offensive guru Mike Shanahan in Denver, where he was surrounded byย an abundance of talented skill position players.
Simply put, wherever Marc Trestman has served as an OC or head coach, theย quarterbacks under his tutelage have succeeded, regardless of their prior resume.ย Trestman was theย OC when Bernie Kosar last guided the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs in 1989.ย In 1995,ย he wasย theย OC of San Francisco when Steve Young guided the 49ers to an 8-3ย record.ย When injury sidelined Young, Trestman helped second-year QB Elvis Grbac lead the team to a 3-2 record and 92.3 QB rating.ย The following season, Young tallied a 9-3 record in his twelve starts and Grbac a 3-1ย record in his four.ย Yet, when both were sidelined in a late Octoberย game at Houston, Trestman helped guide third-string QB Jeff Brohm to 21 of 34ย passing for 189 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in a critical 10-9 victory.
In 1997, Trestman was OCย when Lions’ QB Scott Mitchell passed for 3,484 yards, fourth most in franchise history, and led the team to the playoffs.ย He was the OC for the Arizona Cardinals the following season when second-year QB Jake Plummer led theย team to a 9-7 record andย its first playoff berth in sixteen seasons.ย Perhapsย Trestman’s greatest accomplishment was serving as the Oakland Raiders OC whenย journeyman QB Rich Gannon, in hisย 16th season, wonย the league’s MVP and guided his team to a Super Bowl berth.ย Finally, in his successful stint as the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League,ย his starting QB, Anthony Calvillo, won back-to-back MVP awards inย 2009 and 2010.
Without exception, quarterbacks, whether journeymen, backups or last-resortย options like Jeff Brohm, have excelled under the cerebral Trestman’s guidance.ย Of course,ย we areย not suggesting that Trestman is capable ofย producing miracles with substandard talentsย and mercurcial personalities like Cade McNown and Ryan Leaf.ย But if a QB has a threshhold level of talent and mental acuity, he should be able to flourish in Trestman’s system.
So what does Trestman’s exceptional resume of burnishing quarterbacks have to do withย Jay Cutler? Cutler, who willย be 31 next season, is likely to demand aย salary package in the range of Baltimoreย Ravens’ Super Bowl winning QB Joe Flacco’s six year, $121 deal.ย The average annual cap hit forย Flacco’s deal is over $20 million, approximately 16% of the total 2013 salary cap, whichย is not expected toย increase appreciably in the next few years.ย Flacco will be 33ย in the final year ofย his deal.ย There isย little precedent for a QB Cutler’s age receiving a deal this pricey without having guided his team to a Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis Colts’ QB Andrew Luck’s 2012 rookie contract is worthย $22 million over four years, which carries an average annual cap figure of $5.5.ย ย McCown’s cap figure for the season is $865,000.
If the Bears were to sign Cutler, potentially an unrestricted free agent at season’s end,ย to a Flacco-likeย contract, they would be severely constricting their salary cap and jeopardizing their ability to sign some of the 25 players on their 53-man roster and Injured Reserve who are scheduledย to become free agents along with Cutler.ย Moreover, with players able to reach free agency in the NFL after just four years of service, maintaining cap flexibility is criticalย both long and short term.
By 2016,ย Wide Receivers Alshon Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall,ย Offensiveย Guards Kyle Long and Matt Slausen, Running Backย Mattย Forte, Defensive Tackles Henry Melton and Nate Collins and Kicker Robbie Gouldย will all have the opportunity to becomeย free agents, some as soon this offseason.ย Moreover, the Bears need to consider long term replacements for aging veterans Defensive End Julius Peppers (whose own 2014 cap figure could prove oppressive),ย Linebacker Lance Briggs, Cornerbacks Charlesย Tillman and Tim Jennings and Center Roberto Garza.ย The Bears are going to needย salary capย space to retain key pieces that might not be possible if too much money is allocated to Cutler.
Thus,ย unless Cutler is willing to give theย team a significant contractual discount, the Bears should entrust Trestman to work with a much-less expensive alternative like McCown while aย QB acquired through the draft is groomedย under Trestman like Michael Corleone was under his father.ย ย Maximum cap flexibility and Marc Trestman’s QB coaching wizardryย could createย a winningย future for the Bears.ย A salary cap-busting contract for Cutlerย likely willย not.
