The G.M. who brought Jay Cutler to Chicago believes Cutler is poised to have his biggest year.
Former Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo said in an interview with 87.7 The Game in Chicago that Cutler and the Bears are poised to have a great season in head coach Marc Trestman’s second year. Angelo traded two first-round picks, a third-round pick, a fifth-round pick and quarterback Kyle Orton to Denver in 2009 to acquire Cutler.
“The pressure’s off now. He’s got his contract,” Angelo said. “In all likelihood it’s going to be his last big contract, and he’s firmly entrenched as the starter and he knows what he has to do. I think he’s going to have an outstanding year. It’s a great offense, great personnel around him. And he’s very, very comfortable now going into his second year. As we’ve talked about before, the biggest thing right now is just staying healthy. If he stays healthy the sky’s the limit for the team.”
Angelo says the seven-year contract the Bears gave Cutler showed a commitment to him, and the Bears believe Cutler will be a more confident player as a result.
“Every quarterback that’s starting in the National Football League feels the pressure to win and to take his team to the next level,” Angelo said. “That’s a given, so that’s always been there. The pressure I’m alluding to is that he now has the full commitment of the organization, of the coaching staff, etc. Now he’s in a comfort level, and that’s a big weight on players as they go through their process with a team. ‘Do they really believe in me? Is it me or is it they can’t find somebody like me or better than me?’ Now he knows he’s the guy. So from that standpoint, are we going to see a better player? I don’t know that he’s going to be a better player. But I think you’re going to see a player that now feels totally committed because he feels a total commitment from the organization.”
Cutler should have felt a total commitment from the organization when Angelo engineered that trade five years ago. If he didn’t then, he certainly does now.