The Bears have had only five Pro Bowl quarterbacks since the all-star game was created in its present form in 1951. Mitchell Trubisky was one of those, serving as a Pro Bowl replacement for Jared Goff in 2018.
But frankly, the Bears have experienced a lifetime of disappointment at the position in the Super Bowl era.
The best of the bunch in the past decade is Jay Cutler. Since his last game in Chicago in 2016, the Bears have started Trubisky, Mike Glennon, Chase Daniel, Nick Foles, Justin Fields and Andy Dalton.
“I think maybe now there’s a little more appreciation for what I did while I was here,” Cutler, 39, told Jason Lieser of the Sun-Times.
Fields, the 11th overall choice in 2021, is the next quarterback up, and Cutler is rooting for him to succeed.
“If the Bears start winning — I hope they do — and I hope Justin is successful, and I hope he’s the next big thing here and he’s the best quarterback to come out of Chicago Bears history,” Cutler told Lieser.
Fields is playing under his second head coach in his second offense in his second season. Cutler, the 11th overall choice of the Broncos in 2006, played under three head coaches and six offensive coordinators in his eight seasons in Chicago.
“I like him,” Cutler said of Fields. “He’s got all the tools, but it’s the same problem the Bears have had for a long time: They’re turning over coaches and turning over OCs. It’s hard for a quarterback. You look across the league and the guys that are really good at quarterback have the same coaches and same systems each year.
“This is like learning a different language. It’s like if I told you: ‘Hey, you’ve got to learn Spanish this year and next year learn Italian and the next year learn Chinese.’ It’s not going to be easy.”
Read More: Jay Cutler hopes Justin Fields is “the next big thing” in Chicago