Following Jay Cutler's recent should injury, there have been a lot of speculations that this will be his last season with the Chicago Bears. It seems the team is now preparing for his departure after signing its former quarterback David Fales.
Fales originally joined the Bears in 2014 after being picked during the 6th draft round. After two years with the team, he was released during the final roster cuts.
After leaving the Bears, he was signed by the Baltimore Ravens for their practice squad. After getting released twice by Baltimore this month, he was finally picked up by the Bears on Nov. 22, according to NFL reporter Mike Garafolo.
Fales' signing is most likely the result of Cutler's injury. As noted by the Chicago Sun Times, Cutler's injury is most likely season-ending.
Prior to Fales' signing, the Bears most likely looked to their own roster for a possible replacement for Cutler this year. However, after noticing the lack of depth, and possibly talent, on the quarterback bench, the team probably decided to look outside its own lineup for a possible replacement.
However, it is not yet clear if the Bears will immediately appoint Fales as the team's starting in the upcoming game against the Tennessee Titans. Still though, with Fales onboard, it seems the Bears are slowly preparing for the departure of Cutler.
Aside from missing the remainder of the season, Cutler is also expected to part ways with the team next year. If the team decides to keep Cutler next year, then it will have to pay him $16 million as part of his contract.
Whether he's healthy or not next year, this doesn't seem like a good deal for the Bears especially given the way he performed this season. Because of this, the Chicago franchise will probably release their long-time quarterback next year.
As noted by Greg Gabriel, the Bears' former director of college starting, Cutler has been inconsistent throughout his career in Chicago.
"Is he physically better than probably they've had in years and years and years? Absolutely," he said. "But for a ton of reasons - part of it is he has a different offensive coordinator almost every year - he's never been able to settle in."
