It appears Jay Cutler has worn out his welcome in the Windy City. Assuming the former Pro Bowl gunslinger has played his last game in a Bears uniform, the front office is under immense pressure to find a quarterback for the future.
When looking back in Bears history, ever since Jim McMahon, Chicago has trotted out nearly 30 quarterbacks different in 28 years.
New England Patriots backup signal caller Jimmy Garoppolo could be next in line.
The Bears have abundant draft picks they could trade — including picks in the top three of each round — and while rival executives do not believe the Patriots will land a first-round pick that high via trade, a package including multiple high second-round picks is quite possible. Furthermore, trading Garoppolo out of the AFC would appeal to the Patriots, who expect him to prosper elsewhere.
The Bears have done extensive work on Garoppolo and are very comfortable with him. He shined in the preseason and was exceptional filling in for Tom Brady during his four-game suspension and has strong roots to that community. He played at Eastern Illinois, where (Bears GM Ryan Pace) played as well. (Tony) Romo, Mike Shanahan and Saints coach Sean Payton are also Eastern Illinois products; Pace and Payton worked together in New Orleans and were very high on Garoppolo coming out of college.
During Tom Brady’s four-game suspension, Garoppolo had a touchdown to interception ratio of 4:0 while completing 68.3 percent of his passes with a quarterback rating of 113.3.