Rosenfels: Could Cutler, Shanahan reunite with 49ers?

Sage Rosenfels is a former 12-year NFL quarterback who writes, does radio, and podcasts about the NFL and college football.

I sent out a tweet last week that raised a few eyebrows. While this isn’t the first time - or the last - that I will get mostly negative feedback from a tweet, I’d like to explain my position. We all know that it’s easy to get yourself in trouble in 140 characters or less. Therefore, here is my tweet and the reasons why it makes more sense than many may think:

That was my initial reaction to the news that the Chicago Bears are openly shopping their quarterback. It was also something I’ve thought about for years, basically ever since Cutler and Kyle’s dad, Mike Shanahan, ended their marriage eight years ago. After just three years in Denver, two as the starting quarterback, the Shanahan/Cutler experiment had soured to the extent that Denver decided to trade its quarterback to Chicago for a slew of draft picks.

I’ve always felt this was a mistake by both parties. When the Broncos drafted Cutler out of Vanderbilt, he was the perfect quarterback for Mike Shanahan’s system. Cutler had an incredibly strong arm. He was athletic and could throw on the run, a necessity in the elder Shanahan’s offense. At the time, Jake Plummer’s career was coming to a close. Plummer was almost exclusively a bootleg and play-action quarterback. The traditional pocket-passing game had become a back-burner option in Denver.

If you recall, this was the era of Broncos football when Shanahan and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak would find unknown running backs and plug them in their zone-scheme rushing attack. Year after year, Broncos running backs had career years in this system. When one got hurt or left in free agency, they found someone else and put them in. Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary, Reuben Droughns, Tatum Bell, and Clinton Portis all ran for over 1,000 yards with this zone scheme. Portis, a second-rounder, was a high draft pick who went on to further success in Washington. The rest had their best year(s) in Denver.

As a complement to the zone system, Shanahan and Kubiak acquired Plummer because of his athleticism. The Broncos were consistently winning, and even made it to the AFC Championship Game in 2004 with Plummer. When they felt Jake the Snake couldn’t take them to the next level - and when Cutler was entering the draft - the Broncos jumped at the chance to acquire a new franchise quarterback. Cutler had similar athletic abilities, yet had a stronger arm and was a much better pocket passer than Plummer.

Cutler took the reins from Plummer after one season as his understudy. After just two seasons with Cutler as starting quarterback, the relationship between the signal-caller and Mike Shanahan became unhealthy. Shanahan was fired and Patriots O.C. Josh McDaniels was hired as a result. The new coach immediately didn’t see eye to eye with his incumbent quarterback, and Cutler was traded to Chicago for several high draft picks and Kyle Orton.

I’ve always wondered what happened to Cutler in Denver. In theory, he was the perfect quarterback for the Broncos. Why couldn’t these men work it out? Whose fault was it? Cutler’s? Shanahan’s? McDaniels’? All three?

From afar, I always assumed that the issues between the two sides had to do with two things, the coaches’ egos and the quarterback’s immaturity. There isn’t a need to discuss the two coaches in this article, as they are no longer a part of the equation. But Cutler’s maturity is still in question, as Bears fans, teammates, and coaches are fed up with his less-than-enthusiastic attitude during Bears games.

For those who follow me on Twitter, I have been a vocal critic of Cutler’s body language and demeanor. The quarterback must lead by example, and his leadership - or lack thereof - is infectious. The other 52 teammates look to the him for guidance, energy, and hope. The quarterback’s temperament is the engine which drives the overall attitude of a team. No, it’s not the head coach. It’s the quarterback.

When I joined the Houston Texans and Gary Kubiak in 2006, we watched a lot of Broncos film as we installed the new offense. I immediately fell in love with the zone/bootleg scheme and had my best years in this system. Since the relationship between the two teams’ coaching staffs was still very close, we studied the Broncos’ offense regularly. When the team flipped from Plummer to Cutler, I thought Denver had upgraded at the QB position. Obviously that wasn’t the case.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

As athletes approach the end of their careers, they tend to look back at the decisions they made, and how they affected their reputation. For Cutler, I have always assumed that he regrets his time in Denver. I believe he had this feeling on the first day of offensive installation in Chicago. Those who play for Mike Shanahan, Gary Kubiak, or Kyle Shanahan will all agree that the precise details of their offenses is one thing that separates them from many other NFL offenses. The way they teach footwork, route depth, hand placement, and running back reads is unlike anything else I was ever around in the NFL. Putting these fine details together is like creating a puzzle. When all the pieces fit together, their offenses are a well-oiled machine.

Quarterbacks study film for hours on end. They study themselves and other teams around the league. The Chicago Bears during the mid-2000's did not have that type of detail in their offense. For a quarterback, trying to operate in a scheme where you don’t feel there is an attention to detail is infuriating.

I’ve always believed Cutler was frustrated by the lack of precision with the majority of his offenses in Chicago. Only when he played for Marc Trestman (Year 1) and Adam Gase did Cutler play near his potential. He is starving for the right offensive coach to maximize his abilities.

This is why the Kyle Shanahan/Jay Cutler experiment makes sense to me. One, the 49ers are in desperate need of a quarterback. I assume they will be looking for one in this year’s draft. Since this is a very poor class of quarterback prospects, Shanahan may be searching elsewhere as they develop a young player.

Second, Kyle has shown he can produce with quarterbacks of all skill sets. Matt Schaub wasn’t a great athlete but was an accurate thrower. RG3 was athletic and raw. Brian Hoyer even had success in Shanahan’s system. His last quarterback, Matt Ryan, just won the MVP. This guy can coach quarterbacks. I have a hard time wondering if Cutler doesn’t think the same thing. Believe me when I say the vast majority of NFL QBs would love to play in Shanahan’s system. Only a few, such as Tom Brady, would prefer their offensive scheme and philosophy over Shanahan’s. The 49ers only won two games last year, which may dissuade a player such as Tony Romo from heading to the Bay Area. This is why Cutler is an interesting fit.

If Jay acknowledges his immaturity in Denver and Chicago, he can then provide numerous pieces to this puzzle which, on paper, seem to be a nice fit. Before connecting some dots, we must assume Jay is looking to change his reputation in the final years of his NFL career. He has made so much money that it shouldn’t be a priority for him at this point to get every last dollar. He also knows that, even though he was very young at the time, a Mike Shanahan-style system fits his skill set. Let us not forget that Cutler was a teammate in Denver with 49ers GM John Lynch. I imagine Lynch has as good a chance as any general manager to have a sincere relationship with Cutler.

Third, Cutler knows that he isn’t expected to bring a miracle to San Fran. In both Denver and Chicago, he was tabbed as the missing piece to bring these two franchises a Lombardi Trophy. Winning a Super Bowl is not the immediate expectation for the 49ers any time soon. Lastly, Cutler’s wife is from California. I imagine she wouldn’t mind going west to be closer to friends and relatives as they raise their young family. Never underestimate the power of a player’s wife when it comes to choosing cities in free agency. They can be more persuasive than most fans realize.

I have no idea if this deal will happen. I don’t even know if the younger Shanahan or Lynch have any interest in Cutler. If they do, and if Cutler truly wants to revive his career one last time before heading off into the sunset, he’d be crazy not to jump at the opportunity. There would be limited expectations for Cutler in San Francisco. If he just gets them back to respectability or into the playoffs, he can flip the switch on his reputation. I believe Cutler is motivated to do this. He isn’t the same person he was when he left Denver in 2008. He has had many ups and downs in his career, and I believe he wants to end his NFL life on a positive note. Kyle Shanahan gives him his best chance to redeem himself.

I make a lot of assumptions in this article. We all know that generally makes an ass out of you and me. But, if some of those assumptions are correct, the 49ers could become a team of intrigue. The franchise that gave us Montana and Young is in need of a quarterback. Maybe, just maybe, Cutler is its short-term answer. Call me crazy, but stranger things have happened in the NFL. This possibility makes too much sense to pass off as just another absurd Sage Rosenfels tweet.