After Bears quarterback Jay Cutler injured his right shoulder in Week 11, there was a report that he would miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum.
Bears coach John Fox disputed that report and said that Cutler did not suffer a season-ending injury. Fox had a different message on Thursday.
Fox announced that Cutler is headed to injured reserve and that he will have surgery to repair the labrum in his shoulder after exhausting other options. Given the point in the season, waiting a week isn’t likely to have a great impact on Cutler’s readiness for the 2017 season although it’s one of many reasons to take Fox’s injury updates with a king-size grain of salt.
Matt Barkley is currently installed as the starter for Chicago with David Fales as the backup.
With Cutler officially done for this year, attention can shift to where he’ll be playing next year. The Bears can part ways with Cutler while taking a $2 million cap hit instead of keeping him at a $16 million hit and $12.5 million base salary, so we may well have seen the last of Cutler in a Bears uniform.