Jay Cutler's benching could signal QB's end with Bears

Jay Cutler is fast becoming his generation's Jeff George:

Strong arm. Stronger will. Unfixable gunslinger. That's Cutler in a nutshell nine seasons and 130 interceptions into an NFL career that's gone nowhere.

Cutler's mounting turnovers and losses left Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman no choice Wednesday but to bench the mistake-prone quarterback for Jimmy Clausen -- he of the 1-9 career record -- in a late bid to save his job and restore some sense of accountability to a lost season.

Cutler wasn't the quarterback Trestman and general manager Phil Emory thought they signed this offseason when they inked Cutler to a seven-year, $126 million deal believing he had championship-winning potential.

Cutler's deal is really three years for $54 million with the Bears on the hook for $15.5 million guaranteed to Cutler next season. It might be worth the price to admit their mistake.

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Their sin was believing Cutler, with a league-high 24 turnovers this season, could change when his default setting is his cannon arm trying to rope a throw into narrow windows despite the game plan and repeated emphasis on footwork and mechanics.

When the Green Bay Packers first acquired Brett Favre in a 1992 trade with the Atlanta Falcons, coach Mike Holmgren felt Favre was a wild mustang who had to be tamed. Favre eventually bought in, and coach and quarterback clicked to win a Super Bowl after the 1996 season.

That's unlikely to happen for Cutler, who is set in his ways at age 31.

Cutler, who joined Chicago in 2009 following a trade from the Denver Broncos, has led the Bears to just one postseason appearance, going 1-1 -- a win against Seattle and a 2010 NFC Championship game loss to Green Bay he couldn't finish with a sprained knee

And don't forget that Cutler is 1-11 against the rival Packers with 20 interceptions.

Trestman was hired to replace the fired Lovie Smith because it was believed he was the right quarterback whisperer to coax the best from Cutler.

Turns out that Cutler is that wild mustang who can't be tamed.

Now, it seems, Cutler seems destined to be headed elsewhere this offseason either by trade or via a post-June 1 release. Good luck to the next coach who makes the mistake of believing Cutler can still be fixed.