Poll Of The Day: Will Jay Cutler return to the Chicago Bears in 2014?

There's just one week remaining in the season long audition for Jay Cutler to impress his head coach and his general manager. Chicago Bears GM Phil Emery said that none of the players coming out of contract after this year would be negotiated with, and that included Cutler.

Jay's audition had some positives, and some negatives, he's shown some growth, and he's struggled with some more injuries. Before those injuries he was starting to settle into the offense, and he was having a solid season. But, and this is a big but...

The success of his back up Josh McCown, obviously gives the Bears something to think about. I'm sure they'll crunch every number and digest every play from each QB before moving forward.

Cutler has already said he's not looking to break the bank, but what if some team throws an insane contract at him? The franchise tag is an option, and it gives the Bears some leverage in the negotiations. If Marc Trestman really wants to have his QB back, Emery can always drop the tag on Cutler and give Trestman one more year to work his magic.

Then again, maybe Trestman and Emery are confident that they can mold a quality starting QB from a number of choices on the open market, or even from a rookie.

This QB draft class is a deep enough one that the Bears can find a guy they feel good about. Some potential free agents that could be out there are Michael Vick, Chad Henne, Christian Ponder, and Josh Freeman.

Maybe they decide Josh McCown would be a great bridge guy for a year or two while they groom a youngster.

One things for certain, the Bears have options.

Is Jay Cutler their best option?

What do you think?