FANTASY FOOTBALL NFL PLAYERS

Posted: 11/13/2009 11:16am et

The Associated Press reports Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler was 29-for-52 for 307 yards with a career-high five interceptions Week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers. Cutler has thrown four or more interceptions in a game twice this season, and he currently leads the league with 17 interceptions this year. He is the first Bears quarterback since QB Billy Wade in 1962 to have two games with four or more interceptions.

The Huddle Take: That works out to eight picks per first-round selection traded for Cutler, with the extra pick offsetting the third-rounder the Bears threw in. It's also one fewer INT than Cutler threw all of last season. If you're in a league that penalizes for picks, not only do the interceptions offset his copious yardage—676 over the past two games—it also cuts into the value of Cutler's touchdown total, which still remains at 14 after the 49ers shut him out.

Posted: 10/21/2009 10:23am et

John Clayton, of ESPN.com, reports the Chicago Bears and QB Jay Cutler agreed to a two-year extension that will keep Cutler with the team through 2013, and a source confirmed it will pay him $30 million in new money. Under terms of the deal, Cutler will receive $20 million in guarantees, the source confirmed.

The Huddle Take: You knew this was the plan when the Bears gave up two first-round picks to acquire Cutler, and now they have their quarterback locked down for the next four seasons.

Posted: 10/20/2009 11:07pm et

ChicagoBears.com reports Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler has thrown three of his seven interceptions this year while inside the red zone. Head coach Lovie Smith said, "We can't have those interceptions down there. Jay realizes that, but was trying to make a play."

The Huddle Take: That's always what Cutler's doing when he tosses his interceptions. He is very reminiscent of Brett Favre in that regard and likely will be for most of his career...these guys just make that part of their game. You'll get the great play, but sometimes it'll go the other way. Bottom line is, he's still a very good quarterback and fantasy option most weeks.

Posted: 10/19/2009 11:35am et

The Associated Press reports Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler was 27-for-43 for 300 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons. He was also the team's leading rusher, gaining 34 yards on the ground off three carries.

The Huddle Take: There is little doubt the Bears have become Cutler's team, both for good (the 300 passing yards) and bad (the two picks, one of them in the red zone).

Posted: 7/15/2009 10:31am et

Brad Biggs, of The Chicago Sun-Times, reports the longer the Bears wait to rework the contract of QB Jay Cutler, the more expensive it may be for them. The Bears have more than $17.5 million in salary cap room available at this time, and signing Cutler to a new deal now would allow them to apply a portion of it to this year's salary cap. Cutler is under contract through 2011, but has a $12 million roster bonus due in his final year of the deal. The Bears are already committed to him long term after giving up a lot to acquire him, so tacking on more years to the deal now makes sense. If they wait and other quarterbacks receive new deals, it could only push the price up. Furthermore, if they go into 2009 with his current deal in place and are successful, his asking price could go up, too.

The Huddle Take: Chicago gave up plenty to acquire Cutler, so if they have cap room now it would make sense to add an extension that allows them to stash some of the money under the 2009 cap.

Posted: 7/8/2009 2:23am et

ChicagoBears.com reports Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler has worked very hard in the classroom this offseason to pick up the team's system. Not only has he been able to grasp it, he is also able to execute the offense on the field. Some of the verbiage and reads in the offense are the same as they were with the Denver Broncos, allowing him to pick things up quicker. Quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton has been impressed with his arm strength.

The Huddle Take: You would hope that the noises coming from training camp would be good in this situation, after all, both Cutler and Chicago put their necks out a bit for this, so they hope it works out well. Given this, it is expected that the team would be raving about Cutler's situation and propping him up a bit more than the usual. Cutler's biggest problem will not be his skill, it will be finding people to whom he can get the ball.

Posted: 6/17/2009 11:30pm et

The Chicago Sun-Times, reports Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler said he is comfortable with the current wide receivers on the roster and the team does not need to add another receiver. 'I'm 100 percent comfortable [with the wide receivers],' Cutler said. 'I think we added some depth with some younger guys and then some of the older veterans are stepping up and playing well. So I think we've got more than enough to compete.'

The Huddle Take: This is certainly a good sign that Cutler is developing some rapport with his receivers in Chicago this early in the preaseaon. However, it would be hard to imagine Chicago not being at least remotely interested in Brandon Marshall if the team can put together a deal to bring the talented wideout to Chicago. In the meantime, consider Cutler a solid No. 2 quarterback for the Bears with tremendous upside to become a No. 1 when he becomes more comfortable with the offense.

Posted: 5/23/2009 12:30am et

Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports the Bears are planning to take advantage of QB Jay Cutler's mobility. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner said, "We will have some designed movement plays. We're moving the pocket with him, and then he has the ability to create things on his own when it's not there - if the coverage isn't what we wanted or if there's a protection breakdown. That's something the receivers will have to get used to and something we'll work on definitely more than what we've done."

The Huddle Take: The movement may be more to cover up holes in the Bears' offensive line as much as take advantage of Cutler's mobility. But if they want to mix in a couple goal line bootlegs, Cutler's fantasy owners won't mind a bit.

Posted: 5/21/2009 10:04pm et

The ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said he is very impressed with QB Jay Cutler's arm strength and accuracy. 'His arm strength, I've never been around anything like that before, and he's shown very good accuracy the little bit I've been around him,' Turner said.

The Huddle Take: Not only does Cutler have a strong arm but he has the athletic ability and skills to lead the Bears offense for many years to come. The only question is will the Bears have the necessary supporting cast to help him reach his true potential for fantasy league owners. Look for Chicago to possibly add another veteran wideout since Devon Hester is their only real threat in the passing game.

Posted: 4/4/2009 11:20am et

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Bears QB Jay Cutler said he is looking forward to working with offensive coordinator Ron Turner and has no problems with Turner despite a reported rift between the two because Turner pulled back a scholarship from Cutler when he was the coach at University of Illinois. "I think it's going to be great. I talked to him [Thursday], we talked about the offensive possibilities for a good 15, 20 minutes. We have a lot of weapons. That makes it fun. You can do a lot of different things. [The reported rift] was too long ago. I think it's kind of funny now at this point I'm back here, he's here. Things happen for a reason. I'm lucky to be here. I'm excited to be able to work with Ron," Cutler said.

The Huddle Take: Shocking that Cutler might have a past beef with a coach who wronged him. Maybe the Bears will just cloak his psyche in bubble wrap and hope for the best.