Pre-draft Cutler was ranked by many experts as the third-best quarterback prospect in the
2006 NFL draft after
Matt Leinart of
USC and
Vince Young of
Texas.
ESPN's
Chris Mortensen and
Ron Jaworski tabbed him as the best quarterback available in the draft, and some
scouts believed he had better arm strength than Young and Leinart comparing him to
Brett Favre for his
gunslinger attitude. At the 2006
NFL Scouting Combine, Cutler completed 23 repetitions of a 225-pound
bench press (more than some linemen) and ran a
40-yard dash in 4.77 seconds. Many believed Cutler was chosen by the Broncos due to the lackluster performance in the previous season's
AFC Championship Game of
Jake Plummer. After the pick by Denver, Cutler said, "We had no warning. I think I knew about 15 seconds before everyone else did." Cutler, as predicted by most, was the third quarterback chosen, after Young (3rd overall) and Leinart (10th). He is the third first-round pick to come from Vanderbilt, preceded by
Will Wolford and
Bill Wade. On July 27, 2006, Cutler agreed to terms on a six-year $48 million contract, which included $11 million in bonuses. After a strong training camp in 2006, Cutler was promoted from third to second on the Broncos' quarterback
depth chart ahead of
Bradlee Van Pelt. He passed for more yards than any other rookie in the preseason. On November 27, head coach
Mike Shanahan officially announced that Cutler would replace
Jake Plummer as starting quarterback despite a 7–4 record because, "I think he gives us the best chance to win now." The controversial decision capped weeks of speculation and rumors about Cutler's impending promotion to a starting role. Cutler took his first NFL snap on December 3 (Week 13), and, after some initial jitters (0–3 with sack and fumble), completed his first touchdown to
tight end Stephen Alexander in the second quarter. In the fourth quarter, he threw a memorable 71-yard touchdown to fellow-rookie
Brandon Marshall to tie the game 20–20. It was one of the longest touchdown passes for a debut in NFL history and was also the second-longest pass play between two rookies in Broncos history. On December 10, in a road loss against the
San Diego Chargers, Cutler connected with tight end
Tony Scheffler for two touchdowns in a span of 48 seconds, which is tied for fastest in league history that two rookies produced a pair of scoring passes. He finished the game 21-of-31 with 261 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and a QB rating of 101.7, the highest for a Broncos' rookie since
John Elway in 1983. Cutler then led the Broncos to a
Christmas Eve win over the
Cincinnati Bengals, 24–23, in his fourth start on the season. He went 12-of-23 with 179 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also directed the Broncos on a 99-yard drive in the third quarter that culminated on a
Mike Bell two-yard touchdown run. As a result of the two passing touchdowns in the game against the Bengals, Cutler became the first rookie QB in NFL history to throw for at least two touchdowns in each of his first four games played. The Broncos' quest to clinch a playoff berth came up short in the final game of the season when they fell at home, 26–23, in overtime to the
San Francisco 49ers. The loss dropped the Broncos to 9–7 overall and 4–4 at home. Despite sustaining a concussion in the first half, Cutler finished 21 of 32 with 230 yards and a touchdown and led Denver on a game-tying touchdown drive in the closing minutes of regulation to force overtime. In five games, Cutler finished with a record of 2–3 and went 81-of-137 for 1,001 yards, nine touchdowns, and five interceptions, earning a franchise rookie record passer rating of 88.5. He posted the second-highest touchdown percentage (6.6) and third-highest TD-to-INT ratio (1.8) among NFL rookies since 1970 with at least 125 passing attempts. In week 8, Cutler had just four attempts against the
Detroit Lions before leaving with a leg injury; backup
Patrick Ramsey floundered in a 44–7 loss. Cutler returned the next week in a 27–11 victory at
Kansas City. In Week 10, the 4-5 Broncos faced the 6-3
Tennessee Titans (and fellow 2006 draftee
Vince Young for the first time) in a
MNF game. Cutler posted a career-second-best 137.0 passer rating in a 34–20 victory. He was the first Broncos quarterback since Elway in 1995 to throw two 40+ yard touchdowns in a game (of the team's franchise-record four 40+ yard touchdowns that night), and the 5–5 Broncos moved into a tie with
San Diego atop the
AFC West. However, the Broncos won only one of the next five games, a 41–7 Chiefs blowout. In that game, Cutler passed for four touchdowns and a then-career-best rating of 141.0. But that bright spot came between two pairs of losses; in the four games Cutler had five interceptions, took 12 sacks, twice had a rating under 50.0, and culminated in 23–3 loss to San Diego that eliminated the Broncos from the playoffs. Cutler salvaged a 7–9 record with a 22–19 overtime win over
Minnesota, eliminating them as well. Denver missed the playoffs for a second straight year. Cutler started all 16 games, completing 297-of-467 passes (63.6%) for 3,497 yards, 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He was the NFL's 12th-ranked passer (88.1) and also had the tenth-most passing yards (3,497). Furthermore, Cutler was the league's ninth-best third-down passer, with a 92.1 passer rating (73-of-125 for 901 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions). It was the seventh most passing yards in Broncos history, and third-best completion percentage. In late 2007, various experts suggested Cutler was the young quarterback most likely to reach the elite status along the lines of
Peyton Manning and
Tom Brady. Cutler,
Brandon Marshall, and
Tony Scheffler went to Atlanta together to train and work on timing for the
2008 season.
2008 season Before the
2008 regular season began, Cutler and tight end
Daniel Graham were voted
offensive captains by Broncos teammates. Cutler started the season with a 41–14
Monday Night Football victory over
Oakland. He completed 16-of-24 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns, The next week, Cutler and the Broncos defeated the
San Diego Chargers in Denver, 39–38. Cutler went 36-of-50, with 350 yards passing and a career-best-tying four touchdowns, including one to
Eddie Royal on 4th and Goal with 0:24 left, followed by a game-winning two-point conversion again to Royal. This occurred one play after Cutler fumbled, but an inadvertent whistle by referee
Ed Hochuli before the Chargers recovered gave the Broncos the ball back. In Week 3, Cutler had 264 yards and two touchdowns in a 34–22 home win over
New Orleans. Cutler threw two interceptions for the first time in the Broncos first defeat, 33–19 at
Kansas City. Despite this, he finished September first in the AFC in completions (102), passing yards (1,275), and attempts (157), second in yards per attempt (8.12), third in passing touchdowns (9) and quarterback rating (98.6), and fifth in completion percentage (65.0%), winning
AFC Offensive Player of the Month honors for the first time in his career. The Broncos edged
Tampa Bay 16–13 behind Cutler's 23-of-34 performance with 227 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. The Broncos were 4–1 and leading
AFC West. But then followed a 24–17 loss to
Jacksonville Jaguars, where Cutler passed for just 192 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Next, Cutler injured his
index finger on the first play of a 41-7 drubbing at
New England; he ended the night with 168 yards and two interceptions. After a
bye week, the Broncos suffered their third straight defeat, 26–17 to
Miami, behind Cutler's 24-of-46 passing for 307 yards, two touchdowns and season-high three interceptions. During the 1-4 skid, Cutler had all seven of the Broncos touchdowns. In game 9, the Broncos found themselves down 23–10 at
Cleveland, but in the 4th quarter Cutler threw a career-long 93-yard touchdown to
Eddie Royal, followed by touchdown passes to
Daniel Graham and the game-winner to
Brandon Marshall with 1:14 left. Cutler finished the game going 24-of-42 with 447 yards (career-high), three touchdowns and one interception, The next week, Cutler threw another late 4th quarter touchdown to
Daniel Graham for a 24–20 win at
Atlanta. In game 11, Cutler's streak of games with a touchdown ended at 11 as he went 16-of-37 for 204 yards and an interception in a 31–10 loss to
Oakland. He did, however, reach 3,000 yards on the season, tying
John Elway by reaching this mark in 11 games. In a windy game 12 against the
New York Jets, Cutler went 27-of-43 with 357 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the 34–17 victory. The 7-5 Broncos had a 3-game road win streak, 3 game home loss streak, and 3 game lead on
San Diego (who had their own 3 game loss streak) with four games remaining. Cutler began December completing a season high 80% of his 40 passes for 286 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in a 24–17 win over the
Chiefs. The win came via a 95-yard drive and go-ahead touchdown pass to
Brandon Marshall for Cutler's fourth rally of the season. However, Cutler was just 21-of-33 with 172 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in a 30–20 loss to Carolina, and despite 359 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns, had no passing touchdowns and one interception in a 30–23 loss to
Buffalo. This set up a winner-takes-the-division season finale against the
San Diego Chargers. Cutler went 33-of-49 with 316 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, but it wasn't enough to counteract the Chargers seven touchdowns and Denver lost 52–21, failing to reach the playoffs for the third straight season. Cutler finished the season with career-highs in passing completions (384), passing attempts (616), passing yards (4,526), passing touchdowns (25), interceptions (18), rushing attempts (57) and rushing touchdowns (2). At the time, his passing yards, completions and attempts were all single-season franchise records for the Broncos. He also had the most 300-yard passing games (8) in team history. He was selected as the
FedEx Air Player of the Week for his performances during Weeks 10, 13 and 14. He finished third in fan voting for AFC quarterbacks in the
2009 Pro Bowl, and was officially selected as a reserve. Before the game in Hawaii, fellow Pro Bowlers
Peyton Manning,
Nick Mangold, and
Kris Dielman threw him into a pool, ruining his
blood sugar monitor. A replacement one was found at a drugstore, and Cutler played without incident.
Chicago Bears 2009 season Cutler was traded with the Broncos' fifth-round selection in the
2009 NFL draft pick to the
Chicago Bears for quarterback
Kyle Orton, the Bears' first- and third-round selections in 2009, and first-round pick in the
2010 NFL draft on April 3, 2009. On October 20, Cutler and the Bears came to terms on a two-year contract extension worth $30 million, running through 2013. in 2009 Cutler was the subject of most of the praise and criticism during the Chicago Bears' mercurial season. He began the season with 4 INTs in a loss to
Green Bay, followed by seven touchdowns to one interception in three straight wins with a 100+ QB Rating. The Bears lost eight of the next ten games behind Cutler's 11 touchdowns vs NFL-leading 20 interceptions. This included a Week 9 loss to
San Francisco where Cutler threw a career-high five interceptions and no touchdowns, and a Game 14 loss to
Baltimore where Cutler had career-worsts of 94 yards and a passer rating of 7.9. But Cutler again reversed direction in Game 15 against
Brett Favre's division rival
Vikings, where he threw four touchdowns, including a go-ahead late in the 4th quarter, and 31-yard game-winner in overtime. He earned Offensive Player of the Week for his effort against the Vikings. He then ended the season with another four-touchdown outing and win over
Detroit. Cutler finished the season with 27 touchdowns, league-leading 26 interceptions, 3,666 yards passing, and career-worst passer rating of 76.8.
2010 season The Bears hired
Mike Martz (famed for developing the
St. Louis Rams' "
Greatest Show on Turf") as offensive coordinator. Though Martz was critical of Cutler as an analyst, both professed excitement about working together. Cutler led the Bears to a 3–0 start, throwing six touchdowns and only two interceptions. However, in week 4, Cutler was sacked nine times in the first half against the
New York Giants, missing the rest of that game and the next with a concussion. He returned to six sacks in a loss to
Seattle and 4 interceptions in a loss to
Washington, leaving the Bears at 4–3 at their
bye week. Martz retooled the offensive line and showed more commitment to the running game, allowing Cutler to escape the next three games with just six sacks total. He won those three, followed by then-career-bests of four touchdowns and rating of 146.2 in a win over the 7–3
Eagles (winning NFC Player of the Week), and an 80.8% completion percentage in a win over
Detroit. After a 152-yard, no touchdown, two interception loss to
New England, Cutler won back-to-back games with three touchdowns, one interception, and 100+ ratings in each, before dropping the season finale to
Green Bay. The Bears finished with an 11–5 record, an
NFC North title, and a first-round bye. Despite taking a league-leading 52 sacks, Cutler finished the season with 3,274 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, 232 rushing yards, and 4 comeback victories. . In Cutler's playoff debut against the
Seattle Seahawks, he had 274 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 43 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns in the Bears' 35–24 win, making him the second quarterback in NFL history since
Otto Graham in 1954 and 1955 to score two touchdown passes and two touchdown runs in a playoff game. In the NFC Championship Game, Cutler completed 6-of-14 passes for 80 yards and an interception, before a knee injury sidelined him early in the third quarter of a 21–14 loss to
Green Bay. The Bears did not make an immediate announcement about Cutler's condition, allowing speculation to grow. Bears coach
Lovie Smith later clarified that he, and not Cutler, made the decision after consulting the medical and training staff. The following day, an MRI revealed Cutler had sprained his
MCL.
Hall of Fame quarterback
Troy Aikman commented that the widespread reaction reflected hostility towards Cutler's career-long polarizing attitude. Bears teammates defended Cutler, and his critics themselves became the targets of insults from other players, including Packers
Aaron Rodgers ("disrespectful"),
LeRoy Butler ("stupid"), and
B. J. Raji ("pretty wrong and a lot times it has a lot to do with jealousy").
2011 season Throughout 2011, offensive coordinator
Mike Martz was commonly criticized for aggressive play-calling in a pass-happy offense, leading to unnecessary wear on a quarterback returning from injury. In the season opener against the
Atlanta Falcons, Cutler started the season off on a good note with 312 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the 30–12 win. In Week 2 against the
New Orleans Saints, Cutler was sacked 6 times and
kicked in the throat. During Week 6, Cutler was caught on microphone asking a player to go to Martz on the sideline, and, "Tell him I said fuck him!" Despite these incidents, by Week 10, Cutler had a QB rating of 85.7 (12th in the league) and the Bears were 6–3. However, on November 20, Cutler broke the thumb on his throwing hand tackling San Diego's
Antoine Cason after an interception. He played through the final drive for the win, but the injury required season-ending surgery. Under backups
Caleb Hanie and
Josh McCown, the Bears lost six of their remaining seven games, and missed the playoffs. Overall, in his shortened 2011 season, Cutler had 2,319 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
2012 season Before the season, the Bears replaced Martz with
Mike Tice, hired Cutler's former coach
Jeremy Bates from the Broncos, and acquired his former teammate, wide receiver
Brandon Marshall from the
Miami Dolphins. Unlike Martz, Tice allowed Cutler to call audibles at the line of scrimmage. at Bears training camp in 2012 Cutler started his season by throwing an interception returned for a touchdown by the
Colts' Jerrell Freeman. He bounced back from a 4.9 first-quarter passer rating to finish the game 21-of-35 for 333 yards, two touchdowns, and a 98.9 passer rating, in a 41–21 victory. In week 2, Cutler was sacked seven times and threw four interceptions against
Green Bay, yelling at his porous offensive line and bumping left tackle
J'Marcus Webb on his way to a 28.2 passer rating in a 23–10 loss. The line responded by surrendering just 5 sacks in the next three games, all wins, the second a 34–18 win over
Dallas where Cutler was 18 of 24 for 275 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and the third-best passer rating of his career (140.1). After close wins over
Detroit and
Carolina, Cutler had three touchdowns and no interceptions with a rating of 138.1 in a 51–20 blowout of
Tennessee, bringing the Bears to 7–1 on the season, and Cutler's personal record in games with a 100+ QB rating to 25–0. In Week 10 against the
Houston Texans, Cutler joined
Michael Vick and
Alex Smith as the third NFL quarterback out with a concussion that day. His replacement
Jason Campbell lost that game and the next. Cutler returned for a Week 12 win over the
Minnesota Vikings. Despite a 119.6 passer rating against the
Seattle Seahawks in week 13, the Bears lost in overtime, which was followed by two close losses to
Minnesota and
Green Bay. Cutler finished the season with two solid performances in easy wins over the
Cardinals and
Lions. Despite a 10–6 record, the Bears missed the playoffs. Cutler again finished the season in the top 5 for times sacked, but nevertheless, led the league in fourth-quarter passer rating with 114.7. In just four seasons, he was already the Bears all-time team leader in passer rating (81.9) and completions (1,034), and second in yards (12,292), touchdowns (82), and completion percentage (59.6%). His reunion with
Brandon Marshall led to franchise records of 118 receptions for 1,508 yards, and the 7th-year receiver's first
All-Pro selection.
2013 season New head coach
Marc Trestman developed a successful strategy to better protect his quarterback, and in the first six games Cutler was sacked only 9 times compared to 23, 19, and 19 in the previous three seasons. Under the new scheme, Cutler began the season with three consecutive games with a 90+ passer rating for the first time since 2009. In each of those wins, he threw touchdowns in the 4th quarter, including game-winners in week 1 against Cincinnati and week 2 against Minnesota. He threw three interceptions in a week 4 loss to Detroit. In week five, Cutler was sacked three times and fumbled in the first 16 minutes of the game, then rebounded for 358 yards, two touchdowns, and a season-high 128.1 passer rating in defeat. He threw 2 touchdowns in a Week 6 win over the
New York Giants. Through the first six games, he had a career best 95.2 passer rating, five multiple touchdown games, and a franchise-record 1,630 passing yards. However, against the
Washington Redskins the following week, his 100th career start, Cutler tore a groin muscle when sacked by
Chris Baker, breaking
Jim Harbaugh's franchise record for most times sacked. Josh McCown was solid in relief, barely losing that Redskins game in a 45–41 shootout, and after the bye-week tossing two touchdowns in a 27–21 win at Green Bay. Cutler was medically cleared to return early for the week 10 game against Detroit, where he had 250 yards, one touchdown, and one interception before a hit from
Stephen Tulloch in the second quarter finally drove him from the game on the Bears last drive. Cutler missed the next four games with his injury and McCown played well in his absence, leading to some controversy when Cutler was reinstated as the starting QB in Week 15. Cutler threw two interceptions in the first half against the
Cleveland Browns, one returned for a touchdown, but ended with a 102.2 passer rating and three touchdowns. In the next week's 54–11 loss to the
Philadelphia Eagles, Cutler ended up with 14,687 career passing yards for the Bears, one more than
Sid Luckman's franchise record. The season finale was a winner-takes-the-division matchup at home against Green Bay. Despite Cutler's 15-of-24 passing for 226 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception for a 103.8 passer rating, the Bears lost 33–28 on a last-minute Hail Mary, missing the playoffs with an 8–8 record. Cutler ended the season completing 224 of 355 passes for 2,621 yards, 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a career-high 89.2 passer rating. On January 2, 2014, Cutler signed a seven-year deal, keeping him with the Bears through the 2020 NFL season.
2014 season Cutler and the Bears struggled to a 5–11 record in Trestman's second year as head coach. The Bears opened the season with an overtime loss to the
Buffalo Bills, in which Cutler threw two touchdowns and interceptions for 349 yards. The next week, the team overcame a 17-point deficit behind Cutler's four touchdown passes to defeat the
San Francisco 49ers. The next week, he led the Bears to a 27–19 victory against the
New York Jets, tallying 225 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. In both weeks 4 and 5, Cutler threw two touchdowns and two interceptions in defeats to the Packers and Panthers. In week 6, Cutler recorded a career-high 381 passing yards, defeating
Atlanta 27–13. Cutler recorded just 190 yards in a loss to Miami, then threw three touchdowns but suffered a lopsided 51–23 defeat to the
New England Patriots, and threw two interceptions in an even worse 55–14 loss to the Packers. The 3–6 Bears drew criticism from former Bears linebacker
Brian Urlacher, who suggested that
Phil Emery shouldn't have re-signed Cutler. "Financially, he is one of the elite guys in the NFL... He just hasn't produced like an elite quarterback." Cutler and the Bears rebounded with two consecutive wins. He threw three touchdowns, two interceptions, and 330 yards against the Vikings, and 130 yards and one passing touchdown against Tampa Bay. That would be the last win of the season. Cutler started the Thanksgiving Day game against Detroit with two passing touchdowns, but the Bears stumbled for the remainder of the game
en route to 34–17 loss. He finished the game with two touchdowns, two interceptions, and 280 yards. The Bears suffered their eighth loss of the season to the
Dallas Cowboys, in which Cutler threw 341 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, mathematically eliminating the Bears from the playoffs. Under criticism, offensive coordinator
Aaron Kromer partially blamed Cutler's audibles and impromptu play calling for the poor record, but later apologized to Cutler and the Bears organization in a press conference. The next week, Cutler threw two touchdowns, three interceptions, and just 194 yards for a season-low 55.8 passer rating in a loss to the Saints. Trestman demoted Cutler in favor of
Jimmy Clausen, but Cutler returned when Clausen suffered a concussion in the loss to Detroit. In the Bears' season finale against the Vikings, Cutler completed 23 of 36 passes for 172 yards, and a 63 passer rating in the loss. In 15 games he accrued 3,812 passing yards, a career-high 28 passing touchdowns, but led the NFL with 18 interceptions. Despite the turnovers, Cutler's 2014 season remains one of the best statistical passing seasons in Chicago Bears history. He ranks 3rd all time in single-season passing yards and 2nd in passing touchdowns by a Bears quarterback. He set the all-time Chicago Bears record for all-purpose yards in a single season with 4,003. This record was later broken by
Caleb Williams in 2024.
2015 season The Bears hired
John Fox as their new head coach on January 19. Both Fox and GM
Ryan Pace were initially lukewarm on Cutler, but reluctantly decided to keep Cutler as the starter.
Tight end Martellus Bennett indicated his teammates were similarly unenthusiastic. Cutler began the season with a lackluster 225 yards in a loss to Green Bay, tossing a last-minute touchdown to Bennett to bring his rating up to 67.5. He began Week 2 against the Cardinals with 8 straight completions, but then threw an interception and injured his hamstring failing to stop safety
Tony Jefferson from returning it for a touchdown. Without Cutler, the Bears lost 48–23 to the Cardinals, and were shutout 26–0 in Week 3 at Seattle. Cutler returned against Oakland, throwing two first half touchdowns, and drove 48 yards in the last 2:05 to set-up a game-winning field goal. In Week 5, Cutler threw two touchdowns in the final 3:05 for a dramatic 18–17 victory over the Chiefs and a tie of
Jim McMahon's record for the most wins in team history. In Week 6, Cutler was just short of a third consecutive comeback: despite a season-best 353 yards, a 4th quarter touchdown and 2-point conversion, followed by a 69-yard drive in 17 seconds for a game-tying field goal, the Bears lost in overtime to the Lions. After the bye, in Week 8 Cutler again scored a go-ahead touchdown late in the 4th quarter, but the Vikings rallied for two late scores and a 23–20 win. In Week 9 against
San Diego, Cutler threw yet another late 4th quarter touchdown, which both won the game 22–19, and set the Bears franchise record (139). In Week 10, Cutler had a stellar performance in a 37–13 win against
St. Louis, going 19-for-24 for 258 yards, three touchdowns (two of them for 80+ yards for the only time in franchise history) and no interceptions; his 151.0 passer rating was a career-best. That would be the season high-point for both the 4–5 Bears and Cutler. Despite a 265-yard performance against the eventual Super Bowl champion
Denver Broncos on November 22, 2015, the Bears lost 17-15. They proceeded to go 2–5 the rest of the season, four of the losses by less than 7 points. Cutler had three unremarkable games in narrow losses to Denver and San Francisco and a narrow win at Green Bay. In the Broncos game, Cutler led a 65-yard, potential game-tying drive, but Bears running back
Jeremy Langford was stopped on the two point conversion attempt, and the Bears lost 17–15. In Week 14, Cutler threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns against Washington, including a 50-yard completion with two minutes remaining, but
Robbie Gould missed the game-tying field goal in a 24–21 loss. The next week, Cutler was sacked five times and threw an interception in a 38–17 loss to Minnesota, then had just 156 yards but a 100.2 passer rating in a win over Tampa Bay. In the season finale against Detroit, Cutler had two touchdowns, but three interceptions including one deep in Lions territory at the 2 minute warning to seal the 24–20 loss. Despite his receiving unit being plagued by injuries, Cutler had one of his best seasons as he ended 2015 with 3,629 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and career highs in passer rating (92.3) and completion percentage (64.4). The 11 interceptions were the lowest in his career and resulted in an interception percentage of 2.3, the lowest in a season when he has started at least 12 games, while 21 touchdowns were his second-most since 2011 and the 3,629 yards were the third-most in his career.
2016 season With
Adam Gase's departure to become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins,
Dowell Loggains became the Bears' offensive coordinator. In Cutler's first two games, he was sacked eight times and had two interceptions in losses to the
Houston Texans (where he injured his right thumb but completed the game), and
Philadelphia Eagles (where he re-aggravated his injury and was replaced by
Brian Hoyer). He missed the next five games before making his return against the Vikings, where he completed 20 of 31 passes for 252 yards, a touchdown and a 100.5 passer rating en route to a 20–10 victory.
Zach Miller praised Cutler's performance in his return, even adding that he delivered a half-time speech to motivate his teammates. Cutler fumbled and threw two interceptions (including a pick-6) in a loss to
Tampa Bay. Cutler sustained a labrum injury in his throwing shoulder on November 20, 2016, in a loss to the Giants, and missed the rest of the season. In his five games in 2016, Cutler recorded 1,059 passing yards, four touchdowns, five interceptions, and a 78.1
passer rating. On March 9, 2017, Cutler was released by the Bears through a $2 million
buyout clause, after the guaranteed years in his seven-year contract had run out. After Cutler's lackluster performances and injuries, the move was expected for months, as the Bears decided to award a $45 million contract to
Mike Glennon. In May 2017, Cutler announced his retirement from professional football and was hired by Fox Sports to be a commentator.
Miami Dolphins On August 3, 2017,
Miami Dolphins quarterback
Ryan Tannehill suffered a season-ending injury, and the team reached out to the retired Cutler. On August 7, Cutler signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Dolphins, reuniting him with former Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who was hired as Miami's head coach in
2016. In Week 2, the Dolphins won their first game against the
Los Angeles Chargers, 19–17. Cutler was 24-of-33 for 230 yards with a touchdown to wide receiver
Kenny Stills in the road victory. In a Week 7 game against the
New York Jets, Cutler suffered multiple cracked ribs. He was replaced by
Matt Moore during the game and was ruled out for the following week's game against the
Baltimore Ravens. He returned in Week 9 to face the
Oakland Raiders. In the 27–24 loss, he was very efficient going 34-of-42 for 311 yards and a touchdown. In the Week 11 game, Cutler suffered a concussion, which caused him to miss the team's next game. Cutler had his best performance of the year in a Monday Night Football game against New England where he outplayed Tom Brady and the Dolphins upset the Patriots. This was Cutler's first and only win against
Tom Brady in his career. Cutler threw three touchdowns in the win. On December 27, he said he would probably only continue his NFL career if he can be a starter, stating, "I wouldn't want to move again or go somewhere just to back up." He started 14 games and finished with 2,666 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions for the Dolphins in the 2017 season. The Dolphins did not make the playoffs and Cutler went 6–8 as a starter. Many teammates, including receiver
Kenny Stills, praised Cutler during the season; Stills described him as "a good man." "People in other places have kind of given him a hard time. I got to know him as a man and as a player and I appreciate him. I like him. I'm thankful for the experience of playing with him, catching some balls from him." ==Career statistics==