Jay Cutler Signs One-Year, $10M Deal With Dolphins; Fans React On Twitter

Jay Cutler has never been one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks and on Sunday, he drew even more mockery from fans by agreeing to a one-year, $10 million contract with the Miami Dolphins.

Jay Cutler Dolphins deal news

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Cutler’s deal with Miami includes up to $3 million in incentives for the 34-year-old former Chicago Bears passer.

Cutler had announced his retirement in May and was hired by Fox Sports as a football analyst. However, Cutler rapidly had a change of heart.

“We loved our time working with Jay and wish him the best back on the field this year with the Dolphins,” Fox said in a statement Sunday.

ESPN reported that Dolphins coach Adam Gase played a major role in convincing Cutler of the reasons he should play for Miami, and that the team offered him more money in an attempt to steal him from Fox.

The Dolphins became interested in Cutler after it was announced starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill would probably undergo surgery to repair stretched ligaments in his left knee after going down with a non-contact ACL injury in Thursday’s training camp practice.

Tannehill signed a six-year, $95.272 million deal back in 2015, which was essentially a bundled group of one-year deals after the 2016 season, according to Around The NFL writer Conor Orr. Orr also added that sometime “very early in the league year next year, the Dolphins could opt to walk away from the deal for a sum far less than the $19.8 million Tannehill is set to count for next year.”

Gase confirmed on Monday that Cutler will not play in Thursday’s pre-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

Culter had been hesitant to return to playing football up until Saturday, although he hadn’t made any decision with certainty at that point. Gase then talked him into it.

The one-time Pro Bowler (2008) previously played under Gase when the latter served as the Bears’ offensive coordinator in 2015. That season, Cutler started 15 games and threw for 3,659 yards with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He finished with a 64.4 pass completion percentage.

Last season — his eighth in Chicago — Cutler only played in five games due to thumb and shoulder injuries. He suffered a torn labrum in his right throwing shoulder and underwent surgery in December. The Bears released Cutler on March 9.

According to ProFootballTalk’s Michael David Smith, Cutler said on Monday: “The good thing is I play quarterback so I don’t have to be in that great cardiovascular shape.”

Nevertheless, Cutler clearly believed he was still in good enough shape to continue playing in the NFL.

Cutler was drafted by the Denver Broncos as a first-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2006 and played three seasons with the team before being traded to the Bears. He is the Bears’ franchise leader in passing yards (23,443) and passing touchdowns (154).

Before Cutler’s pact with the Dolphins, veteran backup Matt Moore had been set to replace Tannehill as starting quarterback.

Moore will be 33 next week and has 28 starts in 10 seasons. Last year, he helped Miami secure its first postseason berth since 2008, going 2-1 as a starter to end the regular season before a first-round playoff loss at Pittsburgh.

“Right now, Matt is our quarterback,” Gase said of Moore on Friday.

Cutler’s wife, actress Kristen Cavallari, also reacted to the news of her husband’s new team in an Instagram post on Monday. The 30-year-old former star of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and The Hills — who married Cutler in 2013 — posted a photo of her and Cutler kissing and captioned it: “And he’s off…but this time as a dolphin. So excited for my man on this next journey #MiamiDolphins.”

CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 31: Jay Cutler #6 of the Chicago Bears throws a pass during the first half against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field on October 31, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)