Bears QBs, Cutler's future, the Bears generally

[Patler]

You don't go 10-6 one year with a still productive, Canton-bound QB and then 4-12 the next - unless you dismantle the team. Thompson dismantled Sherman's playoffs team. The Polar Bear conspired to tank that season, partly b/c he wanted a top 10 pick and partly b/c he needed an excuse to fire Sherman, who averaged 11 wins as GM/Coach.

You might want to look more closely at that 10-6 team. They won 10 games without beating a single team that ended the season with a winning record. That was part of the sham of Sherman's teams. They played in a weak division, and had some "fortunate" schedules. His teams were growing progressively less competitive, but still managed to reach the playoffs because of the weak division they played in, and some weak overall schedules.

There wasn't much to dismantle from his last team. He had done most of it himself.