Before publicly committing to Jay Cutler as their starting quarterback for 2015, the Chicago Bears made an unsuccessful attempt at re-working his contract.
"I'm not going to get into everything. Other than, there was ongoing contract talks and it had time limits," Bears head coach John Fox said Wednesday, according to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. "That's all I'll say."
Bears general manager Ryan Pace committed to Cutler as the team's starting quarterback March 11, a day before $10 million of his 2016 salary became guaranteed.
Fox reiterated Wednesday that the Bears took careful evaluation of Cutler before committing to him.
"Much like any decision we make, right or wrong or how it proves, we were being deliberate about going through that," Fox said. "We were limited about how much time you can spend with players during that period. Albeit, it was a contract negotiation, so we were within rules able to communicate.
"And we reached a decision that he was our best opportunity moving forward and we've done that."
Cutler is due $15.5 million in 2015 and $16 million in 2016 as part of the seven-year, $126.7 million deal he signed with the Bears last offseason.