Jay Cutler Retires, Signs With FOX
Former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is retiring in order to pursue a new career. He’s joining FOX’s NFL team, as Peter Schrager of NFL Network tweets. Cutler will be in a three-man booth alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and fellow color commentator Charles Davis. 
Before deciding to go to FOX, Cutler had real discussions with the Jets and less-promising talks with the Texans, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. In a statement issued to Adam Jahns of the Sun Times, Cutler admits that he did not find a ton of interest on the open market this offseason.
“I don’t know if retirement is the right word; I don’t feel that anyone ever really retires from the NFL. You are either forced to leave, or you lose the desire to do what’s required to keep going. I’m in between those situations at this point in my life,” Cutler said.
Not everyone is convinced that Cutler is done playing football, however. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (video link) gets the sense that he would get back on the field if a team offered him a starting job and starter money to go along with it. In theory, the three-man booth protects FOX against Cutler leaving to join a team midseason because Burkhardt and Davis could move forward as a two-man team.
Cutler wasn’t necessarily warm and fuzzy towards the media during his playing days, so it will be interesting to see him in the broadcast booth. However, Cutler has extensive experience playing in the NFC and that should help his transition to FOX. Those close to Cutler also say that he’s well-suited for TV.
“I think Jay Cutler would be on point as an analyst,” guard Kyle Long told Jahns. “He’s one of the most cerebral guys I’ve ever played with, one of the most well-spoken guys I’ve played with. Whether the public knows it or not, he actually is a funny, nice, cool guy. [Media members] have seen that side of him sometimes. You’ve also seen Jay when he’s having maybe not the best day. Unfortunately, that’s kind of the all-encompassing stigma there. But I think if you see him in a suit and he’s got his hair done and he’s got that beard lined up, people will fall in love with Jay Cutler again.”
In his 11 NFL seasons for the Broncos and Bears, Cutler amassed a career 68-71 record. With the Bears, he went 52-52 across eight seasons (including the playoffs). His best season came in 2008 for Denver when he threw for more than 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. That season earned Cutler his sole career Pro Bowl selection. In 2016, he made five starts and was a far cry from the best version of himself.fre
Bears To Sign Jaye Howard
The Bears have agreed to a one-year deal with defensive lineman Jaye Howard, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Chicago had an offer out to Howard as of Wednesday, but the 28-year-old was supposed to visit other clubs after being released by the Chiefs last month. Instead, he’ll join the Bears and likely serve in a rotational capacity on steadily improving front seven. Currently, Mitch Unrein, Akiem Hicks, and Eddie Goldman are Chicago’s projected starters along the defensive line, but Howard, Jonathan Bullard, John Jenkins, and Will Sutton give the Bears enviable depth.
Howard only suited up eight times and made five starts last year, as a hip injury ended his season in November. During his limited action in 2016, Howard added 23 tackles and a sack, and ranked 55th in performance among Pro Football Focus‘ 127 qualified interior defensive linemen.
Jay Cutler May Retire To Pursue TV Career
Former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is thinking about a career change. Unable to garner interest from teams as a starter, Cutler is exploring a move to television, TV sources and people with knowledge of Cutler’s thinking tell Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. 
Cutler’s camp has talked with TV execs about the possible switch and he auditioned for FOX, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com tweets. It’s not clear if he has started talking contract with any network, but he is at least serious about making the jump.
Recently, agent Bus Cook insisted that Cutler does not plan on retiring. However, it sounds like the 34-year-old would rather go the Tony Romo route than to serve as someone’s backup or simply wait by the phone for when a quarterback gets injured.
In his 11 NFL seasons for the Broncos and Bears, Cutler amassed a career 68-71 record. His best season came in 2008 for Denver when he threw for more than 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. That season earned Cutler his sole career Pro Bowl selection. In 2016, he made five starts and was a far cry from the best version of himself.
Jaye Howard Receives Offer From Bears
Former Chiefs defensive lineman Jaye Howard passed his Bears physical and received a contract offer from the team, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). However, he left without signing and he’ll now visit other teams. The Bears, according to Schefter, remain an option for Howard. 
Howard, 28, was released by the Chiefs late last month in a move that saved the team $3.8MM. The Bears were the first team to bring Howard in for a visit and it’s not immediately clear which teams are now slated to meet with him. Because the Chiefs released him with a failed physical designation, the fact that he got a medical greenlight from the Bears is notable. Howard missed half of last year’s games due to a hip ailment, but it sounds like he’ll be ready to play in Week 1.
Last year, Howard recorded 23 tackles and one sack and graded out as Pro Football Focus’ 55th best interior defensive linemen out of 127 qualified players. He had 5.5 sacks in 2015, but the advanced metrics have never been wild about his play.
Bears To Sign OT Bradley Sowell
The Bears have agreed to sign tackle Bradley Sowell, as Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets. Sowell spent the 2016 season with the Seahawks. 
Sowell appeared in ten games for Seattle last season and started in nine of those contests. A knee injury in October took a big chunk out of his season, but the good news is that he was able to avoid surgery.
The 27-year-old (28 in June) won’t be starting for Chicago, but he’ll have an opportunity to be one of the first tackles off of the bench if things go well this summer. After a season in which he graded out as one of Pro Football Focus’ worst qualified tackles, he’ll aim to get back on track in his new surroundings.
The Bears wound up with only five draft picks last week and their only addition to the offensive line came in the fifth round when they selected Jordan Morgan out of Kutztown. Sowell becomes the third outside addition to the offensive line this offseason, joining fellow free agent pickup Tom Compton.
Bears Make Several Roster Moves
- The Bears have waived running backs Bralon Addison and David Cobb; cornerbacks De’Vante Bausby and Jacoby Glenn; wide receiver Dres Anderson; and tight end Justin Perillo. Of those six players, only three (Addison, Bausby and Glenn) took the field for the Bears last season. Glenn made the biggest impact, logging three starts and an interception in seven games. The biggest name of the bunch is Cobb, a fifth-round pick of the Titans in 2015 who ran for 146 yards on 52 carries as a rookie.
- The Bears did make one addition to their roster Monday, signing center Taylor Boggs, according to his agency, Schwartz & Feinsod (Twitter link). Boggs was a Bear from 2013-14, appearing in five games, before moving on to the Lions and Cardinals. With Arizona last year, he picked up the first two starts of his career.
Bears Host DL Jaye Howard On Visit
Former Chiefs defensive lineman Jaye Howard is visiting the Bears, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
The 28-year-old Howard became a free agent when the Chiefs released him April 23 in a cost-cutting move. Howard, a fourth-round pick of the Seahawks in 2012, joined the Chiefs in his second year and ended up spending four seasons with the club. Kansas City was quite reliant on Howard from 2014-16, when he started in 29 of 40 regular-season appearances and piled up 7.5 sacks, 5.5 of which came in 2015.
Howard only suited up eight times and made five starts last year, as a hip injury ended his season in November. During his limited action in 2016, Howard added 23 tackles and a sack, and ranked 55th in performance among Pro Football Focus‘ 127 qualified interior defensive linemen.
If he signs with Chicago – which, like Kansas City, utilizes a 3-4 defensive alignment – Howard would figure to line up at both tackle and end, as he has previously. The Bears finished last season 28th in DVOA against the run, so Howard could perhaps help them improve in that aspect. He’d also provide insurance behind nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who missed most of last season, and give the Bears another end option to join a group including Akiem Hicks, Mitch Unrein and 2016 third-rounder Jonathan Bullard.
Draft Expands Rift Between Pace, Fox?
Ryan Pace and John Fox are entering their third year together with the Bears, but the duo was not seeing eye to eye before this draft commenced, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com notes. After this controversial weekend for the franchise, the rift between the GM and coach may well have expanded.
Chicago’s decision to trade multiple draft picks for the right to move up from No. 3 to No. 2 and take Mitch Trubisky has Fox “fuming,” according to an executive of an annual playoff contender, because the veteran head coach might not have been too involved in the decision-making process. After all, this didn’t do much to help the 2017 Bears before a season that could involve Fox coaching for his job.
“We don’t know what the hell they were doing,” the anonymous exec told La Canfora. “It’s all anyone is talking about. It’s really bad between Pace and Fox. Fox is fuming about being left in the dark on the trade. I don’t know anyone who likes their draft. From the first pick on, we can’t figure out what they were doing. Go back and look at how many small-school kids they took. People around the league are shocked. It’s really bad between Pace and Fox.”
Beyond Trubisky, the Bears took injury-risk Alabama safety Eddie Jackson and three small-school prospects: Ashland tight end Adam Shaheen, North Carolina A&T running back Tarik Cohen and Kutztown offensive lineman Jordan Morgan. So the odds that this draft class can do a lot to help this particular Bears team may be quite slim. But for the future, Pace believes he’s found his version of Drew Brees, although it’s likely damaged the young relationship between the GM and presumptive 2017 starting quarterback Mike Glennon, Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune writes.
Fox has guided the Bears to nine wins in two seasons with the Bears. He led the Broncos to three straight 12-plus-win seasons from 2012-14, although he was gifted Peyton Manning midway through his Denver tenure. Campbell points to Jeff Fisher‘s firing, and Rams GM Les Snead being allowed to pick the next coach, months after the Jared Goff maneuver as an example of how this Trubisky pick could go badly for Fox. Noting that Trubisky will eat into the still-raw Glennon’s practice reps, Campbell argues the Bears won’t be getting the optimal version of the passer for whom they gave an $18.5MM guarantee.
“Either the Bears know something no one else in the league knows, or that draft just got a lot of people fired only they don’t know it yet,” another exec told La Canfora.
Should Pace be allowed to shop for a Fox successor as early as 2018, La Canfora expects Saints OC Pete Carmichael, whose Saints tenure overlapped with Pace’s run in their front office for a nine-year period. La Canfora also speculates Northwestern HC Pat Fitzgerald would be a logical candidate, though he’s skeptical if Fitzgerald would leave Northwestern.
Bears Decline Kyle Fuller’s Option
No surprise here, but GM Ryan Pace says the Bears will decline cornerback Kyle Fuller‘s fifth-year option (Twitter link via Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times). The Bears technically had until May 3 to make the call, but this isn’t a decision they were really struggling with. 
[RELATED: 2018 Fifth-Year Option Tracker]
Fuller underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in August and spent the entire season on IR. At one point, the team designated him for return, but he never made it back to the field. The former first-round pick started in 30 of 32 games in 2014 and 2015 and actually intercepted six passes, but Fuller didn’t quite live up to what Chicago had in mind when selecting him No. 14 overall.
There’s still time for Fuller to get back on track, but the Bears did not want to risk being on the hook for $8.526MM in the case of an injury. While he looks to prove himself, he’ll play out the year at a reasonable $3.08MM cap number.
Bears Acquire No. 112 From Rams
The Bears have acquired pick No. 112 from the Rams, tweets Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago will select Alabama safety Eddie Jackson.
Chicago sent pick Nos. 117 and 197 (sixth round) in order to move up. Jackson will add another presence in a rebuilt Bears secondary.