This upcoming season for the Bears will be somewhat different from those of recent years due to some key departures.

Those departures include former head coach Lovie Smith and Bears middle linebacker Brain Urlacher. With these big time departures it is time for Jay Cutler to step up and become a full-on leader.

Smith was fired at the end of the season after posting a 10-6 record and missing the playoffs for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.

Urlacher, eight time pro-bowler, first-team All-Pro, and former defensive player of the year, won’t be returning to the Bears after being with Chicago for 13 seasons. He was the face of the franchise and one of the best linebackers in the league. Urlacher and the Bears were unable to come to an agreement on a contract offer.

Looking at the team now, the only person who comes up to take the leadership role is Cutler. Cutler has been part of this team for four years now and really hasn’t been anything close to the kind of leader you want your quarterback to be. It will be interesting to see if Cutler can step up and change his attitude.

Offensive lineman Roberto Garza and outside linebacker Lance Briggs are two players who can take full leadership of the team. However, a good quarterback is known for being a leader and face for the franchise, and it’s about time for Cutler to accept his new role.

Marc Trestman is the Bears’ new head coach, and with a new coach comes a new identity. Trestman, before becoming the Bears coach, was the head coach for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. There, he posted a 59-31 regular season record and two championship titles.

Trestman is known for being a guy who can nurture quarterbacks. He has plenty experience in the National Football League, but he’s coming into a team that plans to make a lot of changes for the future.

Cutler hasn’t done anything remarkable since joining the team. In his four seasons he has taken the Bears to the postseason once and played two playoff games. Those are the exact numbers that Seattle rookie quarterback Russell Wilson had in his first year in the league. Cutler is heading into his final year on his contract deal. Since the team hasn’t offered him a new deal he will have no choice to but to stand out this season.