Yeah, there's probably a case to be made that teams are somewhat hamstrung by those contracts, but the rookie scale only gives cap relief for about four years. If the Bears decide to let Cutler walk because they think Generic 3rd Round Quarterback can sort of approximate Cutler, they are probably going to miss and wind up starting over in 2-3 seasons. Finding just a second-tier quarterback is tough on its own, so trying to finesse the position with cost-efficiency until Tom Brady falls into your lap seems like a risky plan.