Cutler lured back by old coach
Former Chicago Bear quarterback had his best year ever under Gase’s system
So much for broadcasting. Jay Cutler unretired Monday, after three months to return to the NFL as a quarterback.
The Miami Dolphins wooed the enigmatic passer from the TV broadcast booth before he could call his first game as an analyst for FOX Sports.
The 34-year-old agreed to a oneyear, $10-million US contract with the Dolphins, NFL Network reported.
Miami late last week suddenly found itself in desperate need of a new QB, after sixth-year starter Ryan Tannehill crumpled on a simple rollout out of bounds. Last December he’d suffered a partially torn left ACL and opted to not have surgery, but appears to have reinjured the same knee.
Had he undergone ACL surgery at last season’s end, he likely would have been able to return to the field later on this coming season. As it is, it appears Tannehill is done until 2018.
Why did the Dolphins want Cutler as Tannehill’s replacement? And what was Miami’s allure that compelled Cutler to unretire? Simple. At separate news conferences Monday, both Cutler and Miami head coach Adam Gase underscored that their one-season union on the Chicago Bears two years ago was memorable, even special — in Cutler’s seventh of eight seasons as Chicago’s starter, and in Gase’s last season as offensive coordinator before becoming Miami’s head coach.
“A situation like this doesn’t come along very often,” Cutler said. “I know Adam very well. I’ve known him since ’06, the first year I came out (of college). I know the system. You’re talking about a playoff team with a lot of really, really good football players. A lot of potential.
“There weren’t a lot of opportunities or jobs out there that, if they would have come up, I would have taken. But this has got to be at the top of the list.”
Knowing and liking Gase’s system (it’s his offence in Miami) was important. Liking and respecting Gase himself, even more so.
“He’s really good at his job. He takes care of his quarterbacks,” Cutler said. “Everywhere he’s been around quarterbacks, he’s been successful.”
Never more so than in 2013. It was Gase who coordinated the Denver Broncos’ buzz-saw attack, led by Peyton Manning, that set NFL season records for touchdowns (76), passing first downs (293) and second-half points (318).
Two years later, in Chicago, Cutler and Gase famously clicked, whereas Cutler didn’t with his previous, short-lived Bears co-ordinators: Ron Turner (2009), Mike Martz (2010-11), Mike Tice (2012) and Marc Trestman/Aaron Kromer (2013-14).
By almost every measure Cutler had one of his best NFL seasons (of 11) when paired with Gase — best touchdown-to-interception ratio (21-to-11) and passer rating (92.3), second highest completion percentage (64.4) and yards-per-attempt (7.6), and second lowest interception percentage (2.3).
Why? Because Cutler and Gase trusted one another, and found ample common ground for what each wanted to achieve, and do, on a football field.
“I think (Gase) does a really good job of putting quarterbacks in really good positions,” Cutler said. “He knows his personnel. He knows defences, how to attack them … being consistent with the run and the pass, and not being too heavy on one or the other. And he’s got a good feel. Play-calling is kind of an art form. It’s not for everybody, and he’s got that feel.
“He’s always so supportive, … He’s got your back, he’s going to support you through thick and thin.”
Cutler did not practise Monday but is expected to Tuesday.
Cutler said he’s fully healed from the torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, the injury that ended his last season in Chicago after five games.
“We’ve just got to make sure we don’t do too much too early,” Gase said. “We’ve got a good plan, and we’ll just kind of see how long it takes us to get him ready.”