Jay Cutler

On Thursday April 2nd, the Denver Broncos traded Jay Cutler and a 2009 5th round pick to the Chicago Bears for a pair of first round draft picks (2009 and 2010), a third round pick (2009), and incumbent quarterback Kyle Orton. This trade ends the Jay Cutler saga which began back when word leaked that the Broncos had discussed a possible scenario in which they would trade Cutler to another team (possibly the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and acquire Matt Cassell from the New England Patriots. That trade never materialized as the Patriots ended up trading Cassell (who worked with new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels in New England) to the Kansas City Chiefs for a second round pick. Now that the drama in Denver is over for now (Cutler and the Bears make a visit during the 3rd week of the preseason) it seems like a solid idea to take a look at this situation. First of all, after the trade was announced, Cutler released a statement (I will paraphrase) that he was surprised that the Broncos moved so quickly and traded him so fast, and that this is not what he wanted and this wasn't the type of guy that he is. To me, that is all bologny as I feel that Cutler made more of this situation than it really needed to be. There was never a real need for Cutler to force his way out of Denver. I'm sure that it was a bit of a slap in the face for him to have his name floated, but he does need to understand that the NFL is just a business and when these things happen, it isn't always meant to be personal. It seems as if this was more of a comfort situation for McDaniels as he has worked with Matt Cassell for years, and he knows that Cassell has a full understanding of the offense which he is trying to install in Denver. Although Cutler took it this way, I wouldn't say that McDaniels necessarily views Cassell as a better quarterback than Cutler, but he may have seen a situation in which he could get quality draft picks for Cutler while still maintaining some sense of quality play from his replacement. A team should do their due diligence when trying to build a quality full roster. It seems as if things could have been smoothed over had McDaniels and the Broncos totally bent over backwards to try to make things up to Cutler, but I applaud them for not doing this. Too often athletes are coddled and made to believe they are better than what they truly are. Too many people allow these men to feel an inflated sense of entitlement that is truly ridiculous sometimes. I will give McDaniels credit for holding the line and not treating Cutler as better than the rest of his teammates. I'm sure it was hard to pull the trigger on a trade that sends away a pro bowl quarterback that is just about to enter his prime, but he did set a standard for how his team will be built, and he let it be known that no man will be bigger than the rest of the team. They are now left with some quality draft picks as well as a guy who was highly respected by his teammates in Kyle Orton. Orton may not ever be a great quarterback, but he is tough and he did run an offense that has some similar traits to the McDaniels offense when he was at Purdue. Meanwhile the Bears now have a quarterback in whom I have to assume that they truly love. They gave up a lot for a team that had more holes to fill than just the quarterback position. I will say this, they have had that hole at quarterback for quite some time now, and if they feel that Cutler is going to be one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL, than you can't blame their GM Jerry Angelo for pulling the trigger. Now they have a pro bowl quarterback and a potentially premier running back in Matt Forte. Forte had a very good rookie year last season, and the team has to believe that an upgrade at quarterback has to help his chances for surpassing that success this year. The problem is that on paper, the Bears best receiver may be Greg Olson who is a tight end. They are a team with a bunch of number 3 receivers and a porous offensive line. Devin Hester is an explosive weapon at receiver, but he is far from a finished product at the position. The team has to hope that they can keep Cutler upright and that someone emerges from their cast of receivers. Now that they do not have a first or third round pick, chances are that help will not be coming through this year's draft. We will have to wait and see how this plays out. Keep in mind that Cutler is still young, and the Bears are probably thinking long term with this trade. They now have the piece that they have sorely lack over the years, and it is easier to fill in some of the other pieces when you have a good quarterback to attract free agent receivers. As for Cutler, he will have to do some image rebuilding, and prove to people that he is not just another selfish and spoiled athlete. It should be interesting to see how it all plays out.