(SP) – Jay Cutler said he decided to step away from retirement and the broadcast booth to suit up for the Miami Dolphins because he felt he would always regret it if he didn’t give football one last shot.
“I didn’t like the way my career ended,” Cutler said of his last season in Chicago in 2016 when the Bears went 3-13 and he only played in five games. “I wanted to finish it the way it was meant to be, by going out on the middle.”
Cutler said he was attracted by the Miami job because he thinks the Dolphins “have what it takes to go 7-9 or 8-8.”
“This has the look of one of the most mediocre teams the NFL has seen in a long time and I know a thing or two about mediocrity,” Cutler said. “All of their receivers are No. 3 guys. They have a running back with injury problems. Their defense is pretty good, but not dominant. Their coach is a nobody, no offense to Adam [Gase], of course. And they have zero shot of winning the division. No team is going to be as middle of the road as the Dolphins.”
Miami head coach Adam Gase said Cutler was the first person he called when Ryan Tannehill went down to injury.
“Could we have played Matt Moore and gone 7-9?” said the head coach. “Sure. But I’ve worked with Jay before. I know he can get a team to 7-9. We have very specific expectations of near-success here, and we’re not going to let anything stand in our way.”
Cutler said he is not too concerned about learning the Dolphins offense.
“I don’t really do offenses, per se,” he said. “I just chuck the ball as hard as I can in the direction of people. I’m ready to do that again.”
