Jay Cutler has a brand new contract with the Chicago Bears that will make him "the man" until 2020. He officially in a committed marriage with Phil Emery and company whether fans like it or not. So with Cutler's contract finished, where does that leave the rest of the team?
Next year's salary cap will be set at roughly $126 million. Cutler's $22.5 million takes up around 18 percent of the team's salary which is a lot for one guy. This will force the Bears to get creative if they want to give other players contract extensions while still being able to sign a few free agents to fit needs.
BearReport.com is noting the first likely move will be to release Julius Peppers who is owed $18 million next season. That will create a fair amount of cap space for the upcoming offseason and provide relief as Cutler's contract becomes less of a hit over the upcoming years. It also would leave the Bears to give Brandon Marshall a contract extension now instead of later.
Marshall's five-year, $45 million deal is set to expire after next season, meaning the No. 1 receiver will be looking for a nice upgrade. Marshall could be looking for a new long-term deal in the five-year range. Spotrac believes the receiver could be worth around $70 million depending on the market. Marshall has not spoken out about his expiring deal, instead opting to praise the work of his teammates instead.
"I would love to retire a Bear. If that happens, that would be a dream come true. I am not going to say I don't think about (the contract)," Marshall said, via the Chicago Tribune. Yeah, I think about it. But I know my value; the team knows my value. Right now we're just trying to win. If we do that, everything falls into place."
Cutler is confident that everything on the business end of the team works out before training camp gets started. Once Marshall's contract is taken care of, No. 2 receiver Alshon Jeffery will be set to get paid after his rookie contract. The three players make a great pairing as Jeffery and Marshall created one of the better receiving tandems in the league.
"The future is set," Cutler said. "Now it's just about going out and being the best quarterback I can and helping lead this team in the direction we want to go. I'm excited. I was telling [Marshall] a couple of days ago: I'm ready for OTAs. I'm ready to get this thing going. I'm ready to start working on what we've been building on."
