Jay Cutler is taking his talents to the broadcast booth.
FOX Sports announced Friday morning that the former Bears quarterback is joining the network as a broadcaster, teaming with announcers Kevin Burkhardt and Charles Davis to call NFL games.
Cutler's first game in the booth will be a Bears-Titans preseason game on Aug. 27, according to Burkhardt.
"This is an exciting new chapter for me in football," Cutler said in the announcement. "I love the game so much and look forward to having a lot of fun on the road this year for FOX Sports."
It's a fascinating move for a guy criticized so heavily during his eight seasons with the Bears, during which he put up some of the best numbers by a quarterback in franchise history.
In eight seasons, Cutler threw for 23,443 yards, 154 touchdowns and 109 interceptions. He was frequently injured, never playing 16 games in a single season in Chicago and three times playing in 11 or fewer. But he also led the Bears to the brink of the Super Bowl, helping the team reach the NFC title game at the end of the 2010 season, the Bears' lone playoff appearance during the Cutler Era.
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The team moved on from Cutler this offseason, handing quarterbacking duties first over to free agent Mike Glennon before drafting Mitchell Trubisky with the No. 2 pick in last week's draft.
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Apparently Cutler did have some talks with other NFL teams about playing this season but ultimately opted to go with this new gig.
Cutler made an additional statement about shifting from the field to the booth:
"I don't know if retirement is the right word," he said. "I don't feel that anyone ever really retires from the NFL. You are either forced to leave or you lose the desire to do what's required to keep going. I'm in between those situations at this point in my life.
"Words can't express how grateful I am to everyone who helped me along my journey. I started playing tackle football at the age of 10 and was so lucky to have supportive parents and great coaches along the way that made my path possible. If I listed each person individually, this would quickly turn into an essay, but you know who you are and I wouldn't be in this situation without you. So thank you.
"To my parents, my sisters, my wife, my kids — thank you for putting your wants and needs on the back burner while I played a game every Friday, Saturday or Sunday. You made it all possible.
"I recently read a quote that struck a cord with me at the time. It was attributed to Henry Rollins (but with the internet these days, you can never be too sure). 'I did that, I gave everything I had to give to that. Now, if I returned to that it would be repetition — it might be fun repetition, but it wouldn't be meaningful repetition.' Thank you to everyone along the way. You made my dream come true."
Cutler might've been jokingly talked about as someone who had a "don't care" attitude on the field, but no Bears fan can tell you honestly they don't care to see what Cutler is like calling games.