In the case of Jay Cutler, it is all about the money.

Specifically Cutler’s albatross contract, which calls for a $15.5 million salary to be guaranteed if he’s on the roster Thursday, tied the hands of the new Chicago Bears regime of general manager Ryan Pace and coach John Fox.

Despite reports of Cutler being offered around in trade, the Bears deny shopping him, ESPN reported Tuesday.

Chicago has the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft but the top two quarterbacks, Jameis Winston of Florida State and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, are expected to be gone.

At the Scouting Combine last month, Fox and Pace made no commitment to Cutler for 2015 and Pace, a first-time GM and the youngest in the position in the NFL, said the new management team wanted time to evaluate Cutler as a person before hitching their wagon to the erratic but talented quarterback.

“I think everybody’s got perceptions,” Fox said in Indianapolis. “But I think it’s getting to know the guy. This is a relationship business. And that takes time. So I don’t want to stand up here and give you a final evaluation when I’m maybe a fourth through the test. … I don’t think there’s any question that there’s ability and talent there. But there’s a lot more that goes into it.”

Under terms of the deal Cutler signed in 2014, he also has another $10 million guaranteed for injury in 2016. He also has a guaranteed $6 million due if he’s on the roster when the 2016 league year begins next March.