Imrem: Bears need to say 'Jay isn't our quarterback'
Come on, guys, this isn't all that complicated.
Just rip the Band-Aid off in one yank and get the whole Jay Cutler thing over with.
The divorce would be more symbolic than anything else. Just by being around, Cutler would compromise the new culture Ryan Pace and John Fox have to instill in the Bears.
These aren't the old days when breaking up was hard to do. Back then the only options were to just stop calling or to dispense the clumsy news over an awkward lunch.
Now you can text or email or leave a voice-mail message or say goodbye on social media or employ whatever other new impersonal technology there is out there.
The Bears already had an introductory news conference last week for Pace, their new general manager, and another Monday morning for Fox, their new head coach.
All went well except neither was bold enough to say what everyone in the Halas Hall auditorium wanted to hear: "Jay isn't our quarterback."
We wanted to hear, just like that, the Band-Aid being ripped off: "Jay isn't our quarterback … we'll tell you who is when we figure it out."
No, though, Fox said when asked what attributes he looks for in a quarterback, "One that wins." That sounded too much like former GM Phil Emery saying Cutler is elite because of his winning record.
Pace said last week that he has to sit down with Cutler, talk with him, get to know him. Fox said essentially the same thing.
Stop, fellas. Don't do that. Cutler has a history of hypnotizing football savants into becoming his football slaves.
Mike Martz met with Cutler and still took the job of Bears offensive coordinator. Marc Trestman met Cutler and still wanted to see whether he could turn him into a real NFL quarterback. Emery was around Cutler for a year and still guaranteed him $54 million.
With Emery it was almost as if the GM had to prove himself to the quarterback instead of the other way around.
Fox said that Cutler "texted me and welcomed me to Chicago." Shut your phone off, coach. Better yet, throw it into a Dumpster behind McDonald's.
"I'm looking forward to getting to know Jay," Fox said.
Seriously, gentlemen, avoid Cutler at all costs. If you have to talk to him, do it together and have each other's back.
Before talking with Cutler you should sit down with fans, media members and any person on a bar stool in any gin joint in the metropolitan area.
We know Jay Cutler better than you do. We know him better than we want to know him. We have known him longer than we wanted to know him.
Just as in a football uniform Cutler can fool you with his athleticism, in street clothes he can fool you with some sort of odd mystique.
What other conclusion can there be when someone with so few accomplishments has wrangled so many rewards out of so many otherwise knowledgeable football folks?
Trust me, just tear the Band-Aid off and worry later about who will replace him.
The impression is that Jay Cutler still will be the Bears' quarterback next season, first because they don't want to eat the money left on his contract and second because they don't see a better option.
That second one is the worst reason to keep anyone - athlete, spouse or anyone else.
Ask yourselves this, guys: Is it better to remain in a dysfunctional marriage or better to end it even if it drains a considerable amount of alimony from your net worth?
Honestly … r-r-r-rip … pull that Band-Aid off right now.
It's that uncomplicated.