Jay Cutler will regain his spot as the Chicago Bears' starting quarterback on Monday night against the 5-1 Minnesota Vikings. Don't look for me to overly excited about this or anything else the team does this season.
If you really love the Chicago Bears, stop rooting for them this season. At 1-6, 2016 isn't salvageable. Moral victories still count for just one win in the standings.
Unless the Bears run the table, the chances of reaching the postseason are as thin as Leonard Floyd's ankles. The only way for the Bears to escape mediocrity for a prolonged period is building through the draft to create a brighter future.
Obviously, the process has to start with finding a franchise quarterback. Cutler is 33 years old and he's clearly not the long-term answer. As good as Brian Hoyer looked at times before breaking his arm in Thursday's loss to the Green Bay Packers, he's a solid backup at best.
If the Bears really want to find a stud at the most important position on the field, they need to flounder their way into a top five pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Landing the Clemson Tigers' DeShaun Watson would be the ideal situation, but other prospects like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish's DeShone Kizer and the Miami Hurricanes' Brad Kaaya are also options who expected to be drafted high.
In any case, Chicago can't come out of next year's draft without one of the three aforementioned signal callers–not if they want to consider their offseason a success. There's a chance New England Patriots' backup Jimmy Garropolo could be available via trade, but it'll be interesting to find out what Bears talent evaluators thought about him coming out of college.
Sure he's been a member of the most successful NFL franchise for the past two-plus years, and he's played well in very brief stints, but that doesn't make him a future star. Matt Cassel spent four years in New England and helped the team to a 10-5 record in 2008 in replacement for an injured Tom Brady.
Cassel was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009 along with Mike Vrabel for a second-round pick, but his QB record since then is 25-39.
Even if the Bears garner a high pick and don't take Watson, Kizer or Kaaya, they had better trade down to acquire multiple prospects that can jump start the rebuild.
In either case, the path to long-term success begins with a dreadful finish to the 2016 season. Many fans are programmed to cheer for a win at all cost, but that will only lead to more heartache down the road.
Whether you're a Cutler fan or not, if you love the Bears you should be hoping they lose to the Vikings and all of their remaining opponents on the schedule this season. It's got to get ugly before it can get better.
