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This time a year ago, Jay Cutler was a goner.

His biggest fan, Phil Emery, the general manager who handed him a new contract, left Chicago after a disastrous 5-11 campaign. The man who replaced Emery, Ryan Pace, refused to endorse Cutler. His new coach, John Fox, actually called him JAKE at his opening press conference.

This time a year ago, winter -- and maybe even this newspaper -- arrived on Cutler's front doorstep.

Well, it's been one whole year since the possibility of Cutler departing Chicago seemed like a certainty. And Cutler's still around. Somehow, he survived. He always does.

"Still here," Cutler told The Chicago Sun-Times in January. "Everybody's kind of probably taken a shot to get rid of me. It hasn't worked so far."

There's a reason why Cutler's still living in Chicago. It's because he's a darn good NFL quarterback. One year after he refused to publicly endorse Cutler, Pace changed his mind.

"I think Jay knows that we have extreme confidence in him, and we're going to continue to build the offense around him," Pace said, via ESPN. "I think he knows that."

Unfortunately, Pace didn't stop there.

"I think he also knows that, 'Hey, we're always going to draft [the] best player available too and acquire as much talent as we can,'" Pace added. 

It's unfortunate because the Bears should not draft a quarterback this April. Despite the unfairly negative perception that Cutler's garnered due to every snarling look he's given to cameras, coaches, teammates, and tablets, the Bears should not go fishing for a quarterback this offseason.

Like it or not, Jay Cutler is Chicago's best hope.

Jay Cutler is often unfairly criticized for his demeanor. (USATSI)

Cutler will be 33 when next season starts, but that's not necessarily an alarming age when it comes to quarterbacks. Just look at Carson Palmer, who didn't peak until this past season -- his 12th year in the league. Now, at 36, he's coming off a season that nearly resulted in an MVP award.

The point being, playing quarterback is hard, but it tends to get easier over time. Just because the Peyton Mannings and Tom Bradys of the world figure it out well before they're 30 doesn't mean we should write off the players who don't catch on so quickly.

The problem with Cutler has never been his physical skill-set, which bodes well for his future as he ages. Instead, the mental side of the equation has been problematic, which is why, to this point, Cutler's outlasted every coach and coordinator who's ever set foot in Chicago. At some point, the thinking goes, it'll all come together for Cutler. Maybe one day in the not so distant future, he'll eliminate those multi-pick meltdowns.

Oh wait, it already happened.

In 2015, despite playing without Alshon Jeffery for large chunks of the season, despite throwing to targets like Marquess Wilson, Josh Bellamy, and Zach Miller, despite operating behind a line comprised of a guard playing right tackle for the first time in his career, a new seventh-round left tackle, and a rookie center, Cutler still posted a career high 92.3 passer rating. By Football Outsiders' metrics, he finished as the 10th best quarterback in 2015 -- one spot ahead of Cam Newton. More importantly, a year after he tossed multiple interceptions in seven games, Cutler didn't throw more than one interception in a single game until the final week of the season.

But now that Adam Gase is in Miami, there are concerns that Cutler will revert back to his old self. The predominant narrative at the moment says Gase "fixed" Cutler.

That's not exactly true. Cutler was still Cutler last year. He still threw the kind of passes that made you think, Holy @$%^&@, why can't he do this all the time? 

And he still threw the same ugly interceptions that made you realize, Oh yeah that's why.

Only those interceptions became rarer. What Gase did -- rather, what he didn't do is fall in love with Cutler's God-given arm. He made sure Cutler played efficient, safe football. And for that, Gase deserves credit. But -- and this is where the Gase effect is overblown -- it's unreasonable to suggest new offensive coordinator, Dowell Loggains, who served as Cutler's position coach this past season, can't do the same. Cutler already confirmed that the Bears will be running the same system and Gase was quick to credit Cutler for the reduction in turnovers.

"[Cutler] has a good idea of how he wants to play the game, and the thing that you have to understand is that he's the one that's [improved his play]," Gase said, per the Sun-Times. "The turnovers have been cut down because of the things that he's worked on and the way that he's approached the game. It's been a low number this year because he's allowed himself to get better within practice and took it upon himself that we're protecting the ball."

If that's the case, then how come we're not giving Cutler most of the credit for what transpired in 2015? I'm not saying Gase didn't play a role in Cutler's ascension, but maybe Cutler's new-found maturation played an even bigger role than the playcaller.

Suppose Jay Cutler "fixed" himself. Maybe that's what the narrative should say.

Gase credited Cutler's work ethic as a big reason why he threw less picks in 2015. (USATSI)

But it won't say that. Because it's Jay Cutler. Back in Grantland's heyday, Bill Barnwell wrote the following about Cutler:

"The dominant narrative surrounding Jay Cutler -- to an extent unmatched by any player in the NFL -- is that he needs to be fixed. That Jay Cutler is a few small changes away from being the quarterback we want him to be. That there are flaws so patently obvious and easy to fix that one new offensive coordinator or receiver or city will do it. Imagine if there were a Jay Cutler who didn't throw four picks in one game! Or one who didn't yell at his teammates when they screwed up! Or one who didn't walk around with that smug look on his face all the time! We lash out at Jay Cutler after his bad games like we're fighting with our significant others. If Jay Cutler would just put the dishes in the dishwasher instead of leaving them in the sink, we'd all have gone to the Super Bowl a long time ago.

Let's turn this question on ourselves, though, because it's going to tell us a lot about how we judge football players irrationally. Why does Jay Cutler have to get fixed? Why can't he just be a pretty good quarterback who delivers one or two terrible games a year? Isn't that good enough?"

Barnwell's article published in 2012. It still rings true today. 

Here's the good news: Cutler still has time to live up to our lofty expectations. But that will only happen if the Bears surround him with a more talented supporting cast. That's another reason why the Bears shouldn't waste a pick on a quarterback. For the Bears, it's time to continue to build a team around Cutler that can help cover up his shortcomings -- like the 2010 team, which journeyed to the NFC title game.

If the Bears decide to draft a developmental quarterback prospect in the mid to late rounds, they'll be buying a lottery ticket like they did in 2010, when they spent a sixth-round pick on Dan LeFevour from Central Michigan. He's never taken a snap in the NFL. In 2011, they spent a fifth-round pick on Nathan Enderle from Idaho. He never threw a pass for anyone. In 2014, they spent a sixth-round pick on David Fales from San Jose State. He's still on the Bears' roster, but he wasn't deemed worthy of supplanting Jimmy Clausen for the backup position until another team tried to poach him off the practice squad.

For every Tom Brady and Russell Wilson success story, there are a million LeFevours and Enderles. And the Bears can't afford to waste a pick on a position they've already secured.

"I'd feel two different things," Cutler told the Sun-Times after being asked how he'd feel if the Bears drafted a quarterback. "One, I'd feel like I can't play forever, so I understand the reasoning for drafting one.

"On the flip side of that, I would think we could have got somebody at 11 who could help us now and could really make a difference and help me out or help the defense out, which would help us win games. Either one that happens, I'll deal with it and we'll move on accordingly."

As Cutler alluded to, the Bears need every draft pick at their disposal so they can pick up players like running back Jeremy Langford (fourth rounder), safety Adrian Amos (fifth rounder), and left tackle Charles Leno (seventh rounder). All three of those players should play a key role in the Bears' upcoming season.

And, though you wouldn't know it based on their record, the Bears aren't that far off. Despite a depleted roster, they lost to the Broncos by two, hung with the Cardinals for a half until Cutler exited with an injury, beat the Packers at Lambeau, topped the Chiefs in Kansas City, lost to the Vikings by a field goal, and missed out on a chance to beat the Redskins because of a failed field goal. Those are all playoff teams, and the Bears were right there with them.

Plus, the Bears will receive a substantial bonus in 2016: Kevin White.

The Bears spent their first-round pick last year on the speedy wideout, but he ended up missing the entire season. Factoring in White, the Bears will be essentially getting two top-10 rookies this coming season (they're slotted to pick 11th in this year's draft, too). They're also projected to own the third-most cap space in the league.

That's not to say the Bears are a contender to wind up in Houston next February, but they're not going to be a 6-10 team for much longer. They shouldn't waste a year grooming an unproven quarterback. After all, Fox has a knack for engineering quick turnarounds. He inherited a 1-15 Panthers team and had them in the Super Bowl two seasons later. Then, he took over a 4-12 Broncos team and proceeded to make the playoffs with Tim Tebow as his starting quarterback.

So no, the Bears aren't in rebuild mode anymore. That ended in January, after Pace and Fox held a 17-week tryout. Jay Cutler, once a dead man walking, passed that audition.

Now, it's time for the Bears to construct a roster that Cutler can win with.

Jay Cutler is the Bears' future. (USATSI)