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LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- If the Bears make changes this off-season, it will not be at quarterback. Chicago signed Jay Cutler to a seven-year contract Thursday, ending speculation they might make a change after five seasons of good and bad from their talented signal-caller. Cutler clearly thrived under first-year coach Marc Trestman and now has some of the best complements on offence hes had since arriving in Chicago in 2009. "Its not always been easy," Cutler said. "Theres been some ups and downs. Theres been some bad years theres been some good years. I think it makes me appreciate the moment Im in even more, with the offensive weapons we have, with the type of leadership we have from the front office, with the type of coaching staff we have with the play calling and our (offensive) install. It makes me happy Im here." The Bears also signed cornerback Tim Jennings, who has led the team in interceptions in each of the past two seasons, and guard Matt Slauson to four-year deals. Like Cutler, both players were scheduled to become free agents. General manager Phil Emery said the team and Cutlers agent, Bus Cook, completed contract discussions three days after the season ended Sunday with a 33-28 loss to the Green Bay Packers in a game that decided the NFC North title. Terms were not disclosed, but the deal for the 30-year-old Cutler is reportedly worth nearly $18 million per year over the first three years and includes at least $50 million guaranteed. "I think whenever you have two groups who want to work in the same direction and want the same thing to happen it can happen relatively pretty easily," Emery said. Cutler produced his career-best passer rating of 89.2 in 2013, although he played in just 11 games due to ankle and groin injuries. He completed 224 of 355 passes for 2,621 yards and 19 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Emery said he was sold on Cutlers return after seeing him in Trestmans offence early in the season. "After the first three games I definitely knew it was going in the right direction in terms of him putting the team in position to win games at the end of the game," Emery said. "That says a lot about the player. I think that Jays third-down passing and fourth-quarter quarterback rating are very high and have been high for a while. He was in the top 10 in both areas this year. I think it speaks of a guy that can be a guy, a player, that is a reason you win." Still, Emery said he wanted to see how Cutler responded to some adversity. He saw it when Cutler came back from a groin strain to face the Detroit Lions in a 21-19 loss and from an ankle sprain to beat the Cleveland Browns 38-31. "How he handled the situation coming back from his second injury and the tremendous pressure that was on him because of the decision we had made to reinstate him as the starter, how he handled that as a person, pregame, game, within the game, after throwing a couple of picks, coming back and being a reason that you win the game," Emery said. "How he handled the Packers and Lions ... thats when I finalized the decision." Cutler feuded with former offensive co-ordinators like Ron Turner, Mike Martz and Mike Tice, but he has steadily climbed the franchise statistical charts and guided the Bears to the NFC championship game in 2010. Under Trestman, he seemed to gain a new lease on life. "The mindset is right and the talent in the locker room is right, so Im happy to be joining the rest of the guys, the rest of the coaches, the rest of the organization in pursuit of a championship," Cutler said. Cutler wouldnt call money the key reason for staying out of free agency, citing familiarity with Trestmans offence as a big factor. He has only been in the same offence for consecutive years a few times in his NFL career, which started in 2006. Trestman found Cutler ran his offence efficiently, even if he had a reputation as a big-play, big-mistake type of player. "Hes been through a lot," Trestman said. "I mean, part of whats brought him to this point is the scars of the last five years and the adversity that hes gone through in getting to know himself better over the last five years. I saw selflessness. I certainly saw mental toughness. When you evaluate a quarterback, you say, does he have an inventory of passes? Can he make all the throws? Does he have mobility? Is he a quick decision maker? Jay has all that." The Bears tabled a few major defensive questions, including the fate of defensive co-ordinator Mel Tucker and whether they should stick with a 4-3 scheme. Trestman and Emery did acknowledge the numerous injuries Tucker dealt with his first season. The Bears lost Pro Bowlers Henry Melton, Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman, as well as middle linebacker D.J. Williams, for big chunks of the season. "I will just tell you were going to be a younger defence," Emery said. "The draft will be focused in that area." Nor would Trestman or Emery rule out the switch to a 3-4 defensive scheme. "Everything is on the table in terms of a discussion," Trestman said. "Phil said it: Were going to get younger. Part of our decisions and how we move forward schematically will be based on the players that are in our locker room." Mike Piazza Jersey . Fielder ended 4-for-5 with a solo homer, while Avila was 4-for-4 with two runs scored for the Tigers, who put the brakes on a three-game skid and rebounded from a loss in Mondays opener. 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So the Suns 100-94 victory over Boston Wednesday night was an uphill affair, with Phoenix relying on balance rather than its trademark high energy.ST. LOUIS -- Michael Morse rewarded his manager for giving him a rare day off. Morse homered and drove in three runs and Pablo Sandoval homered and scored twice to propel the San Francisco Giants to a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series. "It looked like the day off served him well," said manager Bruce Bochy, who sat Morse for the first time this season Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs. "A home run and that big hit off of one of the more dominant closers in the game with the power arm that he has." The Giants, at the start of a seven-game trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati, have won seven of eight. The Cardinals have dropped three of four to start their nine-game home stand. Gregor Blanco scored from second on Angel Pagans single to centre to tie the score at 4-all in the eighth. Third base coach Tim Flannery initially held Blanco at third because of centre fielder Peter Bourjos strong arm. But Blanco scored when the throw bounced on the home plate side of the mound and past three Cardinals, including Carlos Martinez (0-3), who was in front of catcher Yadier Molina rather than backing up the throw. Pagan moved up to second on the throw. Trevor Rosenthal came in after Martinez intentionally walked Sandoval, but Morse doubled just past a diving Bourjos to drive in Pagan and Sandoval and give the Giants a 6-4 lead. "I knew he was going to come with something hard," Morse said. "I just tried to be short. I just tried to touch something." Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Martinez stopped when he saw Blanco stayed at third. He stabbed at the throw from Bourjos, keeping Molina from making the catch and allowing the ball to go to the screen. "Yaddy never was able to see the ball," Matheny said. "As soon as that balls hit, they all know, theyve got to get behind the catcher. He was in the wrong spot and it ended up hurting." Javier Lopez (1-0) got two groundouts in relief of Ryan Vogelsong for his first win since Sept. 22, 2013, at the New York Yankees. Sergio Romo gave up a run on Matt Carpenters two-out single, but held on for his 17th save in 19 chances. Romo has surrendered four runs in the past three games and had his ERA rise to 3.52. Morse, in his first season with the Giants, has nine hits in his past 16 at-bats, with five doubles, a triple and the home run. Hes driven in eight during that five-game span and has a team-high 37 RBIs for the year. "Were just playing," he said. "The mentality we have aand the fun were having, I think winning is contagious and we love to win.dddddddddddd Were just going to keep going at it." Vogelsong allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five in 6 1-3 innings. Sandovals eighth homer of the season tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth inning. The third baseman has an RBI in each of the past nine games. Hes the first Giant to do that since Barry Bonds in 2000. Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia went seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out seven and has yet to issue a walk this season. He was in line for the victory after Allen Craig hit his sixth homer of the season and second in three games off Vogelsong in the bottom of the sixth. "We definitely had a bead on that game," Craig said. "It felt like we were going to win it, but thats baseball. We didnt make enough plays." Vogelsong got into trouble in the fourth when the Cardinals loaded the bases with none out on Matt Hollidays single and consecutive walks to Craig and Molina. Jhonny Peralta, batting .111 (5 of 45) with runners in scoring position, grounded into a double play, plating Holliday. John Jay drove in Craig with a single to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead. Morse tied the score at 1-1 with his ninth homer of the season, a 442-foot blast to left centre to lead off the second. Brandon Hicks scored on Blancos single to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. St. Louis snapped Vogelsongs scoreless streak at 13 2-3 innings with a run in the first. Craigs ground-rule double brought home Carpenter, who singled to lead off and stole second with two outs. NOTES: Carpenters first-inning single extended his NL-best hitting streak to 11 games. ... The Giants improved to 9-14 when their opponents score first. ... Holliday has reached base safely in all 25 home games. . San Francisco C Buster Posey didnt play because of an ongoing back issue. Bochy said he is day to day. ... St. Louis 1B Matt Adams sat for the second consecutive night with a stiff left calf, though he was available as a pinch hitter. . The Cardinals entered the game without a home run off Vogelsong in 68 at-bats, and all but three of their 24 hits were for singles. The Giants had just one homer off Garcia in 66 at-bats, but seven of their 19 hits went for extra bases. . Cardinals prospect Tim Cooney had a no-hitter broken up with two outs in ninth Thursday for Triple-A Memphis. He settled for one-hitter. . St. Louis is set to start Adam Wainwright (8-2, 1.67) against San Franciscos Madison Bumgarner (6-3, 3.15) on Friday night. China Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Authentic Jerseys NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys From China ' ' '