Imrem: Cutler's big payday came without earning it
A game that Bears fans can play during this bye week is trying to determine what exactly is most irritating about Jay Cutler.
Turnovers? Poor decisions? Overthrows? Leadership void? Dismissive personality?
All of the above might have been the answer before Cutler received a new contract this season, which dwarfs the millions he previously made.
Now this is my primary source of disgust: So much has been given to Cutler before he deserved it.
It's the same reason I haven't joined golf fans who worship Phil Mickelson. The measure of excellence on the PGA Tour is winning majors, and he threw away at least a couple early in his career.
With talent second only to Tiger Woods during his era, Mickelson resisted change for too long. He preferred remaining a "swashbuckler" who took chances that didn't have to be taken.
Yet Mickelson was fabulously wealthy before ever winning a major. He finally wised up, cut down on risk taking and now has won five Grand Slam events.
Still, Mickelson never will wind up with as many career major victories as he should because early on he left so many on the course.
To me, in many ways all of that sounds a lot like Jay Cutler's career to this point.
The Bears' quarterback is in his ninth NFL season and to this point has accomplished absolutely nothing. We're talking zip, zilch, zero.
Cutler's single playoff victory came over a sub-.500 team. Other than that, he hasn't even quarterbacked another team to the playoffs, much less to the Super Bowl, much less to a championship.
For this lack of achievement the Bears awarded Cutler a seven-year, $126 million contract … $54 million of which is guaranteed over three years!
This isn't all Cutler's fault or the Bears' either.
Blame sports economics because myriad athletes live the good life before they have done much to earn it.
The system encourages dumb teams and smart teams alike to pay big bucks on speculation. As the late, great baseball owner Bill Veeck moaned, it isn't the cost of quality, it's the cost of mediocrity.
In other words, paying Tom Brady $1 billion would make sense; paying Jay Cutler $54 million is nonsense.
Bears general manager Phil Emery keeps justifying the contract by insisting Cutler is an elite quarterback despite most evidence and much opinion to the contrary.
"Remember what Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady did when their teams were struggling?" former NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein said on CBS Sports Network. "They stepped up and willed their teams to play better. (Cutler) is not stepping up to the challenge like a big-time quarterback has to."
Cutler is the NFL's highest-paid player this season and the hope was that he would respond to his good fortune by graduating to elite status.
There's still time for Cutler to translate his considerable physical tools - as considerable as Mickelson's considerable golf skills are - into $54 million worth of trophies.
However, Cutler continues to be a gunslinger closer to what he has been than to what he should be. Yes, he's still receiving more than he gives.
The pity is that even if Cutler reaches his potential, as Mickelson did the past decade, he likewise never will make up for lost time.
Cutler can't have back those playoff appearances, Super Bowls and Pro Bowls that he didn't achieve previously.
All Jay Cutler is sure to finish with is all that money.
Maybe that's enough for him even if it isn't for those who expect so much more from him.