Jay Cutler a strong selling point for Bears’ signees

Zach Miller had his priorities in order when examining free agency.

“Family-wise was No. 1 — my wife and kids being comfortable,” he said. “Jay was No. 2, to be honest with you.”

Yes. Jay Cutler.

Think about that for a minute.

“To be able to play football with a guy like that at that position — elite arm, elite mental status that can make decisions,” the tight end said Tuesday, one day after signing a two-year contract to return to the Bears. “That was one of the biggest reasons, along with many others.”

Ardent Cutler critics might want to turn away: the quarterback has been a selling point for the Bears in a busy first week of free agency.

He’s greeted new teammates at Halas Hall but, more importantly, has given them hope the Bears will succeed. In a sport where the performance of the quarterback and that of the team is so intertwined — the Super Bowl 50 winner notwithstanding — a vote of confidence in the Bears has been one in Cutler himself.

“Of course I look at Jay Cutler and say, ‘Oh man, he’s going to give us a great opportunity to win every Sunday,’” said defensive end Akiem Hicks, who signed a two-year deal Sunday. “I can’t say that I called him before I made my decision, but I definitely looked at the quarterback.

“It’s a staple of every team, right?”

No one would argue Cutler is better than the two quarterbacks who Hicks played alongside last season, the Saints’ Drew Brees and the Patriots’ Tom Brady. Or the man tackle Bobby Massie blocked for, the Cardinals’ Carson Palmer. Or the Colts’ Andrew Luck, with whom inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman teamed the last four years.

But the Bears can win with Cutler, the signees decided, counter to the stale storyline that he was only good enough to get people fired.

Money played a role in their decisions, sure, but inside linebacker Danny Trevathan is 25 and Hicks and Massie are 26. They weren’t going to devote their prime years to a team without a capable quarterback.

Eight of the 12 players the Bears signed since the start of free agency got terms of two years or fewer. Only one, Trevathan, got four years. The bet, then, is that, if the Bears are going to win during that timeframe, it will be with Cutler and not someone they draft.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Massie said. “I’m just trying get to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl and be a part of that.”

Cutler first caught Freeman’s eye last year, when the Bears and Colts participated in joint training camp practices in Indianapolis before a preseason game.

“You can’t really do anything, can’t have a chance without a quarterback,” he said. “And Jay Cutler definitely has all the tools and everything to be a great quarterback.”

Cutler’s contract no longer seems quite so onerous, either. The Bears on Friday paid $6 million, the last of the original $54 million guarantee from his seven-year, $126.7 million contract.

After this season, the final four years of Cutler’s will be, essentially, pay-as-you go.

The Bears’ major financial risk has passed, replaced by a deal that doesn’t look so scary compared to the $37 million guarantee the Texans gave Brock Osweiler after only seven career starts, or the $35 million Sam Bradford will earn if he lasts two years with the Eagles.

Cutler was better than both of them last year.

His new teammates are betting that continues.

“I would say that it would be hard to find a couple of D-linemen in this league who don’t know who Jay Cutler is,” Hicks said. “And what he brings to the table.”

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Email: pfinley@suntimes.com