Jay Cutler Reportedly Leaning Toward Staying Retired Despite Dolphins' Interest

Retired quarterback Jay Cutler may not be returning to the NFL after all.

ESPN.com's Jeff Darlington reported Saturday that Cutler is "now leaning heavily toward staying retired" and beginning his work with Fox Sports as a color commentator.

Darlington had reported Thursday that Cutler was considering coming out of retirement and signing with the Miami Dolphins. According to Darlington, though, Cutler wanted a shot at starting for the Dolphins, as well as "starter money."

Following up on his report, Darlington tweeted Cutler could potentially change his mind:

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a knee injury during practice Thursday. Darlington and ESPN.com colleague Adam Schefter reported Friday that Tannehill could be out for the entire 2017 season.

A source told Schefter and Darlington that Tannehill's injured left knee was "a ticking time bomb that was going to go off at any time" after he sprained his left ACL and MCL last December and didn't have offseason surgery to repair it.

The Miami Herald's Armando Salguero reported Friday the Dolphins had reached out to Cutler and other veteran free-agent quarterbacks. ESPN's Josina Anderson reported Thursday the team's front office had thrown out Colin Kaepernick as a potential addition before the start of the regular season.

Signing Cutler would make sense for Miami. In addition to his 11 years of experience, he also played under Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, who was offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears in 2015.

It appears, however, the Dolphins will have to shift gears as they look for another quarterback to compete with Matt Moore for the starting job until Tannehill is healthy enough to return.