Chicago Bears general manger Ryan Pace has disclosed that his side were never close to selecting a quarterback in the NFL Draft.

The future of starting quarterback Jay Cutler has been the subject of speculation following his poor performances in the 2014 campaign and his high salary in the coming seasons.

However, Pace has insisted that his team were never in a position to select a signal-caller that matched up with their valuations of the prospects.

He told reporters: "It never locked in to where we were on the board. Every time our pick came up we had guys clearly graded better than the quarterbacks that were there.

"There was just never an opportunity where we were aligned. We're excited about college free agency and being able to do it that way."

Cutler threw for 3,812 yards and 28 touchdowns to 18 interceptions in the 2014 season.