NFL Twitter Mailbag: Jay Cutler Needs Help, More on Michael Vick

Our latest NFL Twitter mailbag includes some expert analysis about the Chicago Bears' situation at wide receiver, and whether Jay Cutler has the tools he needs on offense. We then switch gears and talk yet again about the Michael Vick story.

Your questions and my answers are below.

writetokal: NFL mailbag question: MDS, does it matter the Chicago Bears don't have a top-of-the-line receiver? Is Jay Cutler enough?
To answer this question, I consulted the Football Outsiders Almanac 2009, where I learned that Chicago's top five receivers heading into camp have a shockingly low combined total of just 145 career catches. That strikes me as a bad sign for the Bears, and I think this passage from the FO Almanac is interesting as well:

"They'll get help from halfback Matt Forte, who led the team in receptions a year ago, and tight end Greg Olsen, who was second, but the team will need someone to emerge at wide receiver across from Devin Hester to be able to take advantage of Cutler's ability to stretch the field."

That's the gist of your question, and I absolutely think the Bears will need someone to emerge at wide receiver. Forte and Olsen are fine outlets for Cutler underneath, but to really take advantage of Cutler's skills, I think the Bears need someone who can go long. Right now, they don't have that.

MWPRINCight: I don't get why #Vick can't play while other pros having harmed persons, been involved in criminal acts, etc can.
I've heard from a lot of fans who feel that way, and I think it gets back to the simple fact that no sports league has ever faced a situation quite like the NFL is facing with Vick.

You're right, of course, that a lot of NFL players have harmed human beings and returned to the field much sooner than Vick has: There have been players involved in bar fights or incidents of domestic violence who either weren't suspended at all or were only kept off the field for a game or two. Even Leonard Little, who killed someone while driving drunk, was only suspended for eight games. Vick has missed 32 games and counting.

However, if you have a problem with that, your real problem is with America's criminal justice system, not with the NFL. Vick got a much longer sentence than either Little or Donte Stallworth. If you're outraged that Vick has been treated more harshly by the NFL than Little was (we don't yet know how long Stallworth will be suspended), you should be even more outraged that Vick was treated more harshly by the legal system than Little and Stallworth were.

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