Jay Cutler Says Bears Shouldn't Start Mitchell Trubisky If Team Struggles Early

Jay Cutler cautioned the Chicago Bears against throwing Mitchell Trubisky into the fire should the team stumble out of the gate in 2017.

"If it's going downhill, there is no way I'm playing him," Cutler said Friday during an appearance on ESPN 1000's Waddle and Silvy Show, according to ESPN.com's Jeff Dickerson. "For what? So he can go out there and take a beating and get off to a rough start as an NFL quarterback?

"If it's going downhill, I really don't see any reason to play the kid. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people calling for his name because you draft him at No. 2 and you draft him for a reason and that's to play football and win games."

Cutler, whom Fox Sports hired as an analyst this offseason, previously started at quarterback for the Bears from 2009-2016.

The Bears committed $18.5 million guaranteed to quarterback Mike Glennon in free agency, and general manager Ryan Pace was adamant that Glennon would enter next season as the team's starter despite Trubisky's arrival.

"Mike Glennon is our starting quarterback," Pace said after the draft, according to the Chicago Tribune's Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer. "There's no quarterback competition when Mitch gets here. Glennon is our starting quarterback. We'll focus on Mitch's development and Mike Glennon winning games for the Chicago Bears."

That said, Glennon is already on the clock in the Windy City.

Although the Bears signed the 27-year-old Glennon to a three-year, $45 million deal in March, they can get out of it after one year since $16 million of the $18.5 million guaranteed is due this season.

In other words, it's only a matter of time until Trubisky slides under center in a starting capacity for a team that's been in search of stability at quarterback over the past few seasons.