Jay Cutler: Former NFL Quarterback and Kristin Cavallari’s Ex-Husband Starts Serving Jail Time in Tennessee

Former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler, who played for the Broncos, Bears, and Dolphins, has started serving a short jail term in Tennessee. The 42-year-old reported to Williamson County Jail on Monday morning to begin a four-day sentence after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor DUI.

The jail time is part of a plea deal he made with prosecutors to close out the case. Prosecutors dropped an additional weapons charge that had been hanging over him, as part of the deal. Cutler — who was married to Kristin Cavallari from 2013 until 2020 — got into a car accident in October 2024. When officers arrived, they said he appeared to be under the influence.

Time Behind Bars

At the time of the crash, the former Pro Bowl quarterback had rear-ended another car. Police said that he was slurring his words and refused to take field sobriety tests when asked at the scene.

After the crash, Cutler was rushed to a hospital where his blood was drawn for testing. Police also said they found two guns inside his vehicle, including one that was loaded.

He was originally hit with several charges — DUI, reckless driving from the accident, refusing a sobriety test, and having a firearm while intoxicated.

In the end, the 42-year-old struck a plea deal, admitted guilt in court, and was sentenced to four days in jail.

Along with his jail time, Cutler was fined $350, placed on a year of unsupervised probation, ordered to complete a DUI safety course, and had his driver’s license suspended for 12 months.

Thanks to the plea agreement, the other charges against him were dropped.

Cutler, who is a father of three, shares his children with his ex-wife Cavallari. The couple, who divorced in April 2020 after seven years of marriage, have three kids together: Camden, 13, Jaxon, 11, and Saylor, 9.

Messy Personal Life

Since their rocky divorce, Cutler and Cavallari haven’t exactly kept things quiet. The two have taken jabs at each other online, and just last month Cutler fired back after Cavallari claimed she “never got a penny” in their split.

“I think it’s reckless,” he said on the “Take It Outside” podcast. “I think it’s borderline slander to insinuate that there was zero dollars split during the marriage that each side got.”

“It’s insanity and it’s completely false, completely untrue. I hate that I even have to address it, honestly.”

Over the course of his 12 seasons in the NFL, Cutler earned around $128 million. Responding to Cavallari’s comments, he argued that “not a judge in the state of Tennessee” would have allowed him to walk away from the divorce with “every single dollar” of that money.

“I’ve got a divorce decree,” he added. “I’ve got something that’s signed by the judge — it’s, like, 67 pages [and] it says the number breakdown.”

Cutler spent 12 years in the NFL, starting out with the Denver Broncos, where he racked up 9,024 passing yards and 54 touchdowns in just three seasons.

He then played eight years with the Chicago Bears and finished his career with a season in Miami with the Dolphins, officially retiring in 2018.

By the time he stepped away from the game, Cutler had thrown for 35,133 yards and 227 touchdowns.