The Chicago Bears hit free agency Tuesday fully expecting to go into the 2015 season with Jay Cutler at quarterback, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, citing team sources with knowledge of Chicago’s plans.

Surely coach John Fox and general manager Ryan Pace are acutely aware of the two head coaches left in Cutler’s wake, as well as the two GMs and countless assistants dating back to 2009. But with few options available on the market and in the upcoming draft and an albatross of a contract to unload, Fox and Pace now need to focus their attention on making the best of the situation.

That means surrounding the enigmatic quarterback with even more support Tuesday, via playmakers on offense and defense, once the bell tolls to kick off free agency at 4 p.m. ET.

One free agent, whose representatives spoke with Chicago during the early negotiation period, said his two biggest concerns about joining the Bears were the quarterback and the team’s locker room.

There's plenty of incentive for Jay Cutler to perform well in 2015 for the Bears. Andrew Weber/USA TODAY Sports

The Bears partially solved the quarterback quandary by leaking there’s “absolutely zero truth," according to Mortensen’s report, that Cutler is being actively shopped for a trade. The team hopes it got an early start on handling potential locker room chemistry issues on Friday by trading fiery receiver Brandon Marshall to the New York Jets for a fifth-round pick.

But there’s still plenty left for Fox and Pace to do to avoid the fates of their predecessors.

Knowing all along the organization could very well be stuck with Cutler through 2016, Pace and Fox put together a coaching staff that should be able to coax production from the quarterback. Cutler respects new quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains and offensive coordinator Adam Gase and has long wanted to work with both.

The current situation seems reminiscent of the past, when the organization bent over backward to coddle the quarterback.

The difference this time is Pace and Fox may not hesitate to go another route quickly if Cutler fizzles.

Cutler is scheduled to earn $15.5 million in 2015, a contract that is already fully guaranteed. If Cutler remains on the roster Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, another $10 million of the quarterback’s 2016 salary becomes guaranteed for injury. Cutler could earn another $6 million guaranteed if he is on the roster next March at the start of the 2016 new league year. The team doesn’t owe Cutler any guaranteed money after 2016.

So for Cutler, there’s plenty of incentive to perform in 2015, which would help him avoid a repeat of the current offseason, in which the two most powerful decision-makers on the football operations side have remained noncommittal publicly regarding the quarterback.

Behind the scenes, though, the staff is working diligently to put together a playbook they believe will accentuate Cutler’s strengths.

Soon, it’s expected that Fox and Pace will come out and publicly endorse the quarterback, or at least announce a plan for the position moving forward.

Prior to all that, though, it’s likely the coach and GM sat down with Cutler and discussed expectations for 2015, his attitude, and how he should operate within the confines of the scheme to reduce turnovers and bad decisions, with the sides coming away from the meetings or series of meetings having struck some type of accord all could live with.

Ultimately, Cutler’s contract wasn’t immovable, but it was pretty close. The contract combined with circumstance (weak free-agent market of quarterbacks, lack of strong trade offers and the uncertainly of finding a suitable replacement in the draft) to conjure up the current climate.

Now it’s time for the brass and the quarterback to make the best of it.