CLEVELAND – After missing the last four games due to an ankle injury, Jay Cutler could be playing his last game as a Chicago Bear against his possible new team in the Cleveland Browns Sunday.
Cutler, who is rumored to be allowed to test free agency by the Bears, may be auditioning for the Browns at frigid FirstEnergy Stadium. Thanks to the success and lights-out performances of backup Josh McCown and top prospects such as Marcus Mariota deciding to stay, and the former Vanderbilt standout could be a target for a team and franchise that is starved and desperate for a proven franchise quarterback such as Cutler.
Before going down to injury, Cutler passed for 1,908 yards, three 13 touchdowns, eight interceptions and complied a QB rating of 88.4, in going 4-4. While the Browns may have unearthed a proverbial diamond in the rough in the form of local product Brian Hoyer, is he the answer for the Browns going forward long-term coming off a ACL injury?
Jason Campbell? Good guy, solid veteran, makes plays, but is he the answer for Cleveland. Doubtful.
And nothing needs to be said about Brandon Weeden that hasn’t already been said by various media outlets and Cleveland fan blogs in saying that many in Northeast Ohio are counting down the days of seeing Weeden in the brown and orange the same as waiting for the New Year’s Eve ball to drop in Times Square—minus Carson Daly of course.
That being said, while Cutler has had questions about his toughness in the past, Cutler in Cleveland throwing to the likes of soon-to-be Pro Bowl wideout Josh Gordon, Jordan Cameron, Travis Benjamin and a top wide receiver prospect such as Mike Evans, Sammy Watkins or Allan Robinson and Cleveland instantly has one of the scariest and most prolific offenses in the NFL.
Did this writer fail to mention that Cutler has already played in cold weather in Denver and Chicago?
The case could be made to let either Hoyer or Campbell start, or draft another rookie quarterback such as Brett Hundley, Johnny Manziel, Derek Carr or Blake Bortles and instantly add him to the list of shell-shocked QB’s who have failed in the NFL’s cemetery of passers known as Cleveland.
That being said, Cutler is already proven, has a strong arm and would simply flourish under Norv Turner. Whether or not Cutler winds up in Cleveland remains to be seen, but if things fall the right way, don’t be surprised to see it.
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