The Jets have hired Jeremy Bates as their new quarterbacks coach, the club announced today. While Bates’ addition seems fairly innocuous, the fact that he previously served as QBs coach in Denver with Jay Cutler, who is expected to become a free agent soon, has already provided a possible link between Cutler and Gang Green. Indeed, Cutler is considered a “possibility” for New York, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), who notes that any union would be dependent on an appropriate price tag.

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Cutler is expected to be released by the Bears in the coming weeks, and he could make for an interesting bounceback candidate under Bates and new New York offensive coordinator John Morton. With Bates’ assistance, Cutler posted perhaps the best season of his career in 2008, passing for more than 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns while managing a Total Quarterback Rating of 67.09. Those numbers are a far cry from Cutler’s disastrous 2016 campaign, when mounting injuries limited him to five starts.

The 33-year-old Cutler is just the latest quarterback to be linked to the Jets this offseason, as the club has also been tied to draft prospects Deshaun Watson and Mitch Trubisky and pending free agent Mike Glennon. New York has two signal-callers already on its roster, but the team’s front office reportedly has doubts that either Bryce Petty or Christian Hackenberg will develop into more than a backup-caliber passer.

In addition to Bates, the Jets announced the hiring of three other coaches: offensive assistant/assistant quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi, offensive assistant Jason Vrable, and assistant strength coach Joe Giacobbe.