Bears chairman takes playful shot at Giants QB Tommy DeVito
from Victor Barbosa, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey took a playful shot at New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito during Wednesday’s league meetings, according to a report by Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS.
One of the decisions to come out of Wednesday’s event was for the NFL to continue its global expansion by doubling its international slate of games from four to eight beginning in 2025. According to the report, the league has allowed teams to “protect four home games from being selected to go internationally” in previous years, but those are now being cut in half.
Per Jones, the lone “no” vote on the measure came from the Bears, who were represented by McCaskey. The 67-year-old “spoke up” during the discussion on the matter, and according to Jones and his sources, he argued that fans want to see the best NFL quarterbacks and the team wanted to hold on to the right to host those contests.
That’s when “Tommy Cutlets” apparently entered the debate.
“We have generational talents coming in,” McCaskey said, per the report. “Fans want to see Patrick Mahomes coming in. They want to see Josh Allen coming in. They want to see Jalen Hurts coming in. They want to see Tommy DeVito coming in.”
The room then “burst into laughter,” according to Jones.
“It was the best line of the entire meeting,” a source of Jones in the meeting said.
The lead NFL insider wrote in his report that the joke was a “good-natured and well-received quip.”
DeVito has had, what Jones called, a “Jeremy Lin-like run in New York as an Italian American” as the G-Men’s QB1 in recent weeks, referring to the former NBA guard who took the league by storm with the New York Knicks in February and March 2012.
The undrafted rookie signal-caller made his NFL debut in Week 8 against the New York Jets, replacing No. 2 quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who suffered a rib cage injury in the contest. DeVito’s numbers against Gang Green’s strong defense were abysmal, as he finished 2-for-7 for -1 passing yard and a 39.6 quarterback rating while adding four carries for 12 yards and one touchdown.
With both Taylor and primary starter Daniel Jones out with ailments, the Syracuse and Illinois product made his first career star in Week 10 (against another top defense in the Dallas Cowboys) and had a second straight poor performance.
DeVito has turned it around since then, leading the Giants to three straight victories while going 52-for-72 (72.2%) for 595 passing yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions over the stretch, adding 16 carries for 84 yards. He’s also produced quarterback ratings of over 100 in all three contests and set career highs in completion percentage (81.0%), rushing attempts (10) and rushing yards (71) against the Green Bay Packers on “Monday Night Football” in Week 14.
Following the recent big game, DeVito was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday.