Troublemaker!
...Okay, you talked me into it.
It's not a tough decision at all. McCown has played very well. In fact he has the highest passer rating of any QB in the NFL. However he is only 2-2 as a starter this year and 3 of his 4 starts came against the Vikings, Cowboys and Redskins--perhaps the only teams that have worse defenses than the Bears. He's a very good game manager (like, but not as good as, Alex Smith) but his performance has been "enhanced" by weak competition and by having Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffrey, Martellus Bennett and Matt Forte along with a very improved offensive line around him.
Let's not make the mistake of thinking that McCown is a long term starter based on such a small sample size. Look what happened with Matt Flynn and Matt McGloin. Cutler has a better arm, can scramble and extend plays and can fit the ball into tight windows where McCown can't. He is easily the better QB. He takes more risks than Josh does but it usually results in bigger plays. Prior to getting hurt, he was having the best season of his career in spite of having a new head coach and yet another new OC.
Cutler is not injury prone as Coach implies. He got a concussion a few years ago when the Giants sacked him something like 9 times in the first half behind a swiss cheese o-line. He strained his ACL against the Packers in the NFCCG and tried to talk the coaches into letting him continue to play on it, even riding a stationary bike on the sideline to show them he was good to go, but they wouldn't put him back in. He broke his thumb (against our Chiefs, by the way) and this year he pulled his groin muscle. Coming back too soon from that injury probably led to him spraining his ankle in the Lions game. But he doesn't have any recurring injury and none of his injuries have been career threatening.
He's not an elite QB, but he is very good when his o-line gives him time and he has quality targets to throw to. He has that this year and that is why only the Broncos have scored more points per game than the Bears. (The Chiefs are right behind them in 3rd place!). McCown is a quality back-up but there is a reason he played for 6 other NFL and one CFL team before the Bears called him away from coaching a high school team to play with them. I love McCown and the Bears are in a great position to have him as a back-up, but he is not the long term answer for them at QB.
The Bears need to keep them both if at all possible, but Cutler is the undisputed starter. The only tough decision the Bears have is whether or not they want to pay him "top 5" money. I don't think he is
that good, but some team desperate for a QB may offer him that. They will probably also have to pay McCown considerably more because he has played very well this year, but i don't think he would be nearly as good on most other teams. If the Bears don't resign him I think he would make the Chiefs an excellent backup to Alex (assuming we can get a really good WR next year) while we groom Tyler Bray or draft a QB to eventually replace Smith several years from now.
...Doobs made me do it!
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