Jay Cutler Traded to the Chicago Bears

by: Francosil

We all knew it was going to happen. Jay Cutler has been traded and is now a Chicago Bear. In return the Broncos got the Bears first round pick this year (18th overall), their third round pick this year (84th overall), their first round pick in 2010 and QB Kyle Orton. The Broncos also gave the Bears a fifth round pick.

In my last blog I had the Vikings and Lions as possible destinations, but it was their NFC North rival Chicago Bears where Cutler landed. Chicago finally gets their answer to their season after season quarterback dillema, while Denver gets rid of the whole Cutler situation.

Some say this takes Chicago from an average team to a Superbowl contendor. While I think it is not that extreme, it is still a huge upgrade. Chicago, who's team is similar to Minnesota, has a stellar defense with a great ground game. They were a QB and WR away from a superbowl run. They got the QB part, now all they have to do is acquire a WR. Veteran standout widereceivers Torry Holt and Marvin Harrison are still available on the free-agent market and could be good for one or two more years for a deep-playoff run. After all, the Chicago Bears just signed veteran Offensive Tackle Orlando Pace to a 3-year deal. Could the Bears be looking at a superbowl push this year? Look for the Bears to be a powerhouse in the NFC this season.

As a Broncos fan, I look at this two ways:
1) I am dissapointed we got rid of Cutler. After all, he is a 25 year old ProBowl, franchise quarterback. Not to mention I invested in a Cutler jersey and a sweater with his name and number on the back. I loved watching him play and I got attatched to his rocket-arm style. When he dropped back and threw the ball, I would always have confidence that it would be a completion. For the amount of passing plays Denver had to run with their lack of a running game last year (7 Running backs on Injured Reserve), Cutler had some great stats. With the defenses not worrying about the run game, Cutler had to throw the ball in some tough situations. Even though he threw more interceptions in 2008 than 2007, you could tell Cutler was beginning to mature into a top quarterback in the league. To tell you the truth, I was anxious to see what McDaniels and Cutler could do together. McDaniels was the offensive coordinator who took a 6th round pick in Tom Brady and turned him into the best quarterback in the NFL, maybe the best quarterback this century, and took a career backup in Matt Cassel and showed him to an 11-5 record as a starter behind center for the Patriots while getting him a 14.6 million dollar contract.

2) The Broncos had to move on. There is no "I" in "Team" and Cutler was being too selfish. The relationship between McDaniels and Cutler couldn't be repaired and it was time to move on. If I learned anything from last season, it was that a stellar offense (ranked #2 in the NFL) and probowl QB cannot make the playoffs if there is no defense to stop the opposing team. With the picks acquired in the Cutler deal, they could spend them on the defensive side of the ball. Let's not kid ourselves, Denver's defense was absolutely brutal last season. If they were even average, or ranked in the middle of the league, Denver would most certaintly had made the playoffs, maybe even made it to the AFC Championship game. This trade gives Denver the ability to acquire some young talent on defense and maybe regain the "Orange Crush" defense they once had.