Da Bears acquire Jay Cutler

The Chicago Bears acquired disgruntled Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler in a trade on Thursday afternoon, giving up quarterback Kyle Orton and first-round picks in 2009 (18th overall) and 2010, along with a third-round pick (84th overall) in 2009 to do it.

To complete the trade, the Broncos had to give back a fifth-round pick (140th overall) in 2009. That pick was acquired by the Broncos from the Seattle Seahawks in a trade for wide receiver Keary Colbert.

The Bears beat out the Redskins, Buccaneers, Lions, Titans and other teams to land the 25-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback. The Broncos had made it clear they were asking for at least two first-round choices.

Cutler had asked to be traded when he found out first-year Denver coach Josh McDaniels tried to acquire Matt Cassel in a trade with the Patriots.

"I don't have any concerns," Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said. "[Coach Lovie Smith] and I talked about that. We did, like a lot of people who were interested in Jay, a lot of work going back to not just when he was with Denver [but] but going back to his days at Vanderbilt."

Angelo said area scout Rex Hogan lives in the Nashville area and developed a "great rapport" with Cutler coming out of Vanderbilt in 2006.

"We felt that [Cutler] is a very good person, a good leader," Angelo said. "He had some things that happened in Denver. We recognized those, but we treated them as just speed bumps, part of the growing process. He's highly competitive, he's highly emotional. That just comes with the territory."

Although Cutler is 17-20 as a starter, he's been victimized by dismal defenses in Denver, and he was an impressive 13-1 when the Broncos held opponents to 21 points or fewer.

Last year, Cutler threw for a franchise record 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. In his 37-game career in Denver, he completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 9,024 yards, 54 TDs and 37 interceptions.

Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, upon hearing that Cutler was now his teammate, was stunned by the news.

"I guess the Bears felt like we needed another quarterback, so they made a move," Urlacher told the Chicago Tribune. "They gave up a lot. Cutler must be pretty good."

"I guess we got better as a team," Urlacher added, according to the newspaper. "You get a quarterback who is a Pro Bowl guy. But I will say this: I think Kyle Orton is a good quarterback. He's a great teammate. I hope he does really well in Denver."

Cutler is scheduled to travel to Chicago, where he must pass a physical exam before the trade becomes official. He could not be immediately reached for comment. But Bus Cook, Cutler's agent, told ESPN that Cutler is pleased that the team he followed while growing up in northern Indiana had acquired him.

"I know Jay's choices would have been Chicago and Tennessee simply because that's where he grew up and went to school,'' Cook said. "It's unfortunate from one standpoint, but once it got to the point where a trade had to happen, it couldn't have turned out better for Jay, and I think the Broncos got a great compensation package for him.''

Cook said the Bears have not made Cutler any promises about renegotiating his contract. "That wasn't what this was about,'' Cook said. "This was not about a new deal. It was never mentioned to Denver, never suggested, and that wasn't part of this. It was a matter of some personalities that weren't going to get along too well. It was not about a new contract.''

On Tuesday, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen released a statement saying both he and McDaniels had been unable to get Cutler to call them back during the past 10 days. Cutler also had been staying away from the offseason program.

As a result, the Broncos decided to trade Cutler, whom they were convinced "no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos."

According to NFL senior analyst Chris Mortensen, however, Cutler replied, "No," in a text message when asked whether Bowlen had directly tried to contact him.

Cook said the Broncos first got in touch with him on Tuesday.

"The perception that they've been burning the phone lines the last 10 days is wrong," Cook said. "In fact, the other day, I asked Jay if he had heard from them and he said, 'No.' I didn't hear from them until yesterday [Tuesday] morning when [GM] Brian Xanders called me and said that Mr. Bowlen needs to speak with Jay now. I told him all I can do is leave Jay a message.

"I didn't reach Jay directly -- I don't know what he was doing -- but I left a message. Then Brian called at the end of the day and asked me if I had heard from him. I hadn't. I heard from Jay when he called to tell me he just saw on TV he was being traded. They can spin it the way they want to spin it."

Urlacher, for his part, does not view Cutler as an incoming troublemaker.

"I would be ticked off, too, if someone was trying to trade me and didn't tell me about it," he told the Tribune. "I don't think Jay is going to be an issue. We have a pretty good locker room, so I'm not worried about that. [Linebacker] Hunter [Hillenmeyer] knows him. And [Cutler] seems like a pretty good guy. I've never met him but I've heard good things about him. I'm not worried about him fitting in."

At first, McDaniels had faith he could repair the strained relationship with his temperamental quarterback -- if only he could get him to call him back. On Tuesday, he became convinced that just wasn't going to happen.

Cutler is halfway through the six-year, $48 million contract he signed as the 11th overall pick out of Vanderbilt in the 2006 draft.

It won't be long, however, before Cutler returns to Denver: The Broncos are scheduled to host the Bears in a preseason game on Aug. 30 in Denver.

"We just expect another football game," Broncos tight end Daniel Graham said of that game on Thursday night, according to The Denver Post. "We're going out there with the Broncos helmet as a team, and everybody is going out to look for a win."

John Elway, the quarterback Denver fans had hoped Cutler would emulate, said it was "too bad" the Broncos and Cutler couldn't fix their relationship, according to the newspaper.

Elway recalled that twice in his career, he was at the center of trade firestorms. The first was in 1983, when he was drafted by the then-Baltimore Colts and forced a trade to Denver. The second came in 1991, when Broncos coach Dan Reeves discussed trading Elway with Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs. Elway said he found out about those talks and was upset, according to the report.

"I was very hurt, so I can understand what Jay was feeling. It's a trust issue," Elway said, according to the Post. "After some time, I had to get over it and move on. Although you don't forget, you realize this is a business.

"Jay couldn't get past it."

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Just got off the phone with personnel analyst Matt Williamson of Scouts, Inc., who expressed a few fair reservations about Jay Cutler's gunslinger mentality. But overall, Williamson said Chicago "dramatically improved" its offense by acquiring Cutler from Denver and added:

"The Bears are probably the team to beat in their division. If I had to pick right now, I would pick them to win the North, where I wouldn't have yesterday. So I think that speaks to the significance of this trade."

On the most basic level, Williamson said Cutler more than fits the profile of an ideal Chicago quarterback that plays at least eight games a year at Soldier Field:

"You need a big, strong-armed guy to cut through the wind and the elements. I know it sounds simple, but the average fan tends to overlook that. Whenever you're shopping for a quarterback to play in Chicago, New York, Cleveland or somewhere like that, you better have a cannon and throw a spiral that can cut the wind. Cutler can do that in a big way. The defense has to guard the whole field, and that hasn't always been the case in the past 10 years or so in Chicago. Arm strength like that can make a lot of other problems go away."

Williamson also predicted Cutler could make a significant player out of receiver Earl Bennett, who did not catch a pass last season but has been penciled in as a starter for 2009. (The Bears no longer having a 2009 draft choice further reduces the possibility they'll be able to draft a receiver who can step into the starting lineup right away.)

Bennett and Cutler were teammates at Vanderbilt and are so close that Cutler returned to campus last year to throw for Bennett's pro day workout last year.

"They had a tremendous rapport at Vanderbilt, and that's actually a big deal when you talk about quarterbacks and receivers. While he was a disappointment last year, you could see a guy like Bennett being much more viable now -- particularly on out routes and intermediate routes. I don't think he's going to be a field stretcher. That will be Devin Hester's job. But Cutler is going to help guys like Bennett, [tight end] Greg Olsen and even [tailback] Matt Forte be more productive in the passing game."

Indeed, Williamson didn't believe the Bears' relatively thin group of receivers will inhibit Cutler's performance. If anything, Williamson said, Cutler's penchant for taking risks poses the biggest threat to his success in Chicago:

"Not many people have brought that up during this whole discussion about him being a great young quarterback over the past month or so. But that's a big negative about him. He can get the ball into tight windows, but I would think some of the things he does would make a defensive head coach pull his hair out. You think of Lovie Smith, who is defensive-minded and pretty conservative, and you wonder how he'll react to some of the things he does.

"People compare his arm strength to Brett Favre, but you can also compare them when it comes to taking risks. His bad decisions are off the charts, and he makes a lot of them. He'll throw a lot of picks and put his defense in a bad spot more often than you'd like. But all in all, it's a good move, especially considering where they were before this."

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RIP said:

Its a great pick up for the Bears. They haven't had a gunslinger style QB in a long time and If Pace is slowing down they can move him to the week side. Now go pick up Tory Holt and It will make Olsen and Clark better. The move also takes some pressure off of the running game. I still think Jerry Angelo is a goof.

By the way Oloz I will be at the opener on Monday. Tailgating off of Princeton Av. Go Sox

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thedon said:

i was thinking mcnabb would be on the move to his home city...wrong

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Line said:

As an Eagles fan, I sadly don't see McNabb or Reid going anywhere.

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Line said:

As an Eagles fan,

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Line said:

As an Eagles fan, I sadly don't see McNabb or Reid going anywhere.

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Ironslave said:

Why sadly? Sure they havent quite won the big one, but McNabb is a multi time pro bowler, he's played hurt, etc etc.... he's one of the best QB's in the game, no way they can replace him with someone better very easily...

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Rageking said:

Without mcnabb the eagles are nothing

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Line said:

As for Reid, I have the luxury of watching all the Eagles' games so I'm familiar with he and his staff's play calling and their handling of the other situational aspects of the game. Rarely is it pretty. Aside from Johnson's defense, of course, but even that takes a hit with Dawk leaving.

No.

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Oloz said:

Most of us bears' fans feel the same way about fucking Ron Turner. He is terrible.

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