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Could the Cardinals be targeting Jay Cutler?

Jay Cutler

The Arizona Cardinals may just be the next team to try and mold Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler into their field general.

In his weekly column for  The MMQB, Peter King presented the logic for a potential Cutler-Bruce Arians hookup.

“Name the counter-culture coach who likes to take shots on guys hated by lots of down-the-middle coaches and GMs, who is the biggest proponent of the deep ball of any coach in football, and who may need said deep ball thrower because his quarterback turns 38 this year. I think I just made a Bruce Arians-Jay Cutler marriage—and Arizona can wait until the Bears cut him and sign Cutler for two years and incentives,” King wrote. “This doesn’t mean Arizona won’t aggressively scout college kids though.”

Is this likely? Probably not. Carson Palmer has already said he is not retiring heading into 2017, and even if he did there are still a lot of dominoes to fall. King notes that, either way, Arizona will be scouting college quarterbacks. And even with the 13th pick, it’s possible one the team covets is still available.

There’s also the issue of Cutler’s age. He’ll be 34 when next season starts, and the decline associated with an extended NFL career has already shown. It’s also tough to justify a potential Cutler signing as a win-now move for the Cardinals when the quarterback has thrown 16 interceptions in his last 20 games and played just five games last season.

Additionally, the Bears looked better with Brian Hoyer under center than Cutler. And the Cardinals probably can’t justify spending the next two years with Cutler pouting on the sideline. Nevertheless, Bruce Arians has a great record when it comes to quarterbacks and has, as King writes, a history of taking chances.

Perhaps Cutler will be the next throw of the dice.

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