New blog up on the home page

Hey everyone, I just thought I would let you know that there's a new blog up on the homepage. After waiting awhile for it to sink in, I thought it would be a good time for me to finally talk about the Jay Cutler trade. Tell me what you think. I'll paste it here too so people can read it at either place.




After letting the Denver Bronco’s trade of Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears stew for a couple of weeks, I finally feel it’s the appropriate time to discuss the NFL’s biggest move so far this offseason.

When the whole fiasco began, I will be the first to admit that I placed all of the blame on new Head Coach Josh McDaniels. I felt he came in right away and was trying to stir the pot too early. After McDaniels and Bronco ownership denied even entertaining the thought of trading their Pro Bowl quarterback, I couldn’t help but feel that Cutler was getting the short end of the stick.

From that point on though, Cutler didn’t exactly make the right moves either. Sure, he had every right to feel shafted, but I think he needed to realize that the NFL is a business and that no one’s job is guaranteed. I thought it was childish of him to put his Denver home up on the market and it was equally distasteful for his parents to do the same. Obviously, he didn’t plan on staying a Bronco player though, so I guess it didn’t really matter.

With all the crap hitting the fan early on in the ordeal, there was finally a lull in the Cutler vs. McDaniels saga. Cutler had chosen not to attend voluntary workouts and that was fine. But then, there was a glimmer of hope for Bronco fans everywhere. McDaniels came out and said: “He’s our quarterback. We can’t predict the future. He’s our quarterback, we want him to be our quarterback, we made that very clear to him and we hope he feels the same way.”

With that simple statement, I could swear Cutler was still going to be a Bronco by the time next season rolled around. At that point, with McDaniels showing his public approval for Cutler, the ball was now in the quarterback’s hands. He could’ve either tried to patch the relationship, matching the new head coach’s enthusiasm, or he could’ve continued with his request for a trade. By now, we know the decision that was made.

Eventually, the Denver ownership couldn’t take it any longer. It was reported that they were finally going to give in to Cutler’s request for a trade. Supposedly, they had attempted to reach him for nearly 10 days without receiving a response, so they knew it was time to move on. According to Cutler, no members of the Bronco’s organization had attempted to reach him or his owner, but that’s a he said, she said argument so I will leave it at that.

Knowing the trade was coming, I was certain that Cutler would either end up a Detroit Lion or a Cleveland Brown. It made sense that the Lions could trade their No. 1 overall draft pick for Cutler, a proven quarterback. Instead of taking a chance on big-armed Matt Stafford, they would’ve been inheriting a Pro Bowl quarterback who has already shown he’s the real deal in a short period of time.

In the other scenario, I would’ve preferred that Cutler be traded to the Browns for Brady Quinn and draft picks. While his potential has yet to be reached at the NFL level, I would’ve been comfortable giving the golden boy his shot in Denver. Still, others think Cleveland would’ve given up Anderson instead, but who knows now. Either way, I think it would have been better than the eventual trade the Broncos made.

Putting an end to the saga however on April 3, Cutler and this year’s fifth-round pick were traded to the Chicago Bears in exchange for quarterback Kyle Orton and first-round picks in 2009 (18^th overall) and 2010, along with a third-round pick in 2009.

With the trade completed, I can’t help but determine that the Chicago Bears won the trade, at least in the short term. After putting up with inconsistent quarterbacks like Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton, they finally have a franchise quarterback they can look to the future with. If Devin Hester can miraculously boost his skills as a wide receiver, and if the Bears can grab a standout wide receiver in the draft, I think the trade will pay off dividends.

On the Broncos side of the ball, they are now stuck with two decent veteran quarterbacks, but neither is anything to write home about. Depending on how McDaniel’s new system works out, Orton might turn out to be the man for the job after all, but only time will tell.

With the draft picks received from the trade, Denver will have the opportunity to greatly bolster a defense that has been stagnant for the past couple of seasons. Still, it’s damn near impossible to tell if a rookie defender will be able to come in and immediately help out on a NFL squad.

I know this is far-fetched, but I’m going to throw it out there anyway. Because of the draft picks they received from the Bears, it does give them the opportunity to trade their No. 12 pick and move up in the draft to take a quarterback. With that said, I have a feeling they might trade up to acquire Mark Sanchez. People might think that would be crazy because most people aren’t confident in Sanchez’s ability. But, flash back to when Cutler was picked up by the Broncos. People said the same things about him and look how he turned out.

Either way, the removal of Cutler automatically makes the Broncos a worse team then they were last season. With the schedule out, the AFC West has to play the big dogs in the NFC East, so we will quickly see how the new-look Broncos will compete. They might surprise everyone and win the division. They might meet everyone’s expectations though and crash and burn. At this point though, who knows? Only time will tell.

nice write up.. the broncos still suck

In my opinion the Bears got the better of this one. The one thing that always kept this team from winning the bowl in my eyes was a top-knotch QB. With Cutler in place and a draft coming up thats full of explosive WRs, the bears have a good chance of putting themselves up there with the elite again. Far as the Broncos are concern the blame solely goes on the organization for how they handle things. True Cutler could have handle things better, but he did what he was suppose to do, which was go out there and perform on a pro-bowl level. With the QB spot being the most important position on the team, how do you let someone of Cutlers caliber get away. In my eyes this is the second bad decision this organization has made. The first was releasing Mike from his coach duties. (Dumb move) Maybe @ some point you have to starting looking at the big boys in the office.

In my opinion and this is obviously a little bias cuz Josh Mcdaniels is from the NE system but i think denver got the beter end of the deal.. u give up a qb that has never won more then 8 games in a season and u get two 1st round picks and a 3rd rounder.. and u get a starting qb who on one of the worst offences wr wise in the nfl, was patient enough to not make many mistakes and lead that team to a winning record in both years he started..9-6 last year and 10-5 in 2005.. now he gets a denver offence that was one of the best last year.. we all know Brandon Marshall is a stud and Eddie Royal had a very nice year as a rookie last year... I think Orton will do good with this offence, and maybe even take the division because the division is so weak.. and Orton ran a similar system in college @Purdue that hes gona be running in denver which is the spread short efficiant pass game.. If Orton is able to go 10-6 and win the division everyone will be saying this move was brilliant and and that Josh McDaniels is a hell of a coach.

Boston if they make wise draft choices with those picks I will agree with you somewhat and thats only if those guys that they draft can have an immediate impact. (which all three wont, i could be wrong tho.)I still think Chicago got the better deal. Cutler went 8-8 on a team that had no defense. There was three or four games where if the defense could have stopped someone the Broncos could have easily ended the season sitting @ 11-5 and maybe in the playoffs. Orton on the other hand played for a team where their defense put him in situations to win games and he couldn't. To me Orton is 2nd string material all day and the Broncos are about to find that fact out. Let's see a Bears team with defense and a poven QB now or a Broncos team with no defense and subpar QB slated to start. I am no John Madden, but the Bears got an early christmas present.

Let me add Cutler went 8-8 in the AFC, which happens to be a much stronger conference than the NFC. (By far.)

[FAMB] Yungboi76 wrote:

Let me add Cutler went 8-8 in the AFC, which happens to be a much stronger conference than the NFC. (By far.)

You have got to be kidding if you're trying to claim that the AFC West is stronger than anyone, much less the NFC. The Chargers happened to win the division with a subpar 8-8 record. When it came to wins and losses last season, there was no division worse than the AFC West so I don't know what you're talking about.

[FAMB] Yungboi76 wrote:

Let me add Cutler went 8-8 in the AFC, which happens to be a much stronger conference than the NFC. (By far.)

I just looked at the schedules themselves and they look pretty even vs non division opponents but the afc west was the worst division.. so IMO Cutler had the easier schedule and was one game worse then Orton and Cutler had better options to throw to.. now hes goin to Chicago to play in a tougher division with no weapons besides a slot wr tryin to play #1 wr in hester.. i just dont see what ur talking about...

The Bears got the better of this deal its not even an argument...Cutler is a franchise QB Orton is not. The Qb is the most important position on the field and whenever you can grab a franchise Qb you got to get him.


More than likely the 2 first round picks and the 3rd will not have the impact on the Broncos that the Cutler will have Bears. This isn't Madden just because you have a first rd pick doesn't mean they are going to be 90+ ovr in 3 years. And there is a good possibilty that one or more of the picks will be busts. Just go look at past drafts and look and ask yourself where these players are today..


Also you can compare these stats and teams till you guys are blue in the face. It doesn't matter. There is not a coach in the NFL that is going to start Orton over Cutler. If Orton played with the Broncos last year they do worse than 8-8. They didnt lose because of their Offense it was because there defense sucked. Orton is an avg qb who can play in a system where alot is not asked of him and you depend on your Defense to carry your team.

I was actually a big Orton fan when he was a sophmore and junior at Purdue. I thought he was going to be a great NFL Qb. But his senior year at Purdue he looked terrible and got benched and he basically got drafted because of his 1st 3 years at Purdue. I'm not saying he is horrible he just is what I would consider a "stop gap" until you can draft or trade for something better like the Bears did.




BTW....Ketchum that was another great article bro!

Ketcham what post are you reading? It wasn't mines. Where did I write that the AFC West was the strongest division, or even a strong division? Um, I didn't. I stated that the AFC as a whole was a stronger conference than the NFC. Conferences were compared not divisions. Boston a good QB doesn't need weapons, he makes the people around him better. Whether I'm a pro-bowl WR or an average WR, if my QB cant get me the ball how am I going to be effective. Throw in the fact that the Bears still have the 17th pick in rd 2 and the 35th pick in the 3rd round, I dont think they will have a problem getting Cutler a new target. Especially in a draft full of offensive weapons. The more I think about it the Bears pulled off a pretty sweet deal! Yes sir! BTW......great discussion got me wishing the season was starting Sunday, lol.

[FAMB] Yungboi76 wrote:

Ketcham what post are you reading? It wasn't mines. Where did I write that the AFC West was the strongest division, or even a strong division? Um, I didn't. I stated that the AFC as a whole was a stronger conference than the NFC. Conferences were compared not divisions. Boston a good QB doesn't need weapons, he makes the people around him better. Whether I'm a pro-bowl WR or an average WR, if my QB cant get me the ball how am I going to be effective. Throw in the fact that the Bears still have the 17th pick in rd 2 and the 35th pick in the 3rd round, I dont think they will have a problem getting Cutler a new target. Especially in a draft full of offensive weapons. The more I think about it the Bears pulled off a pretty sweet deal! Yes sir! BTW......great discussion got me wishing the season was starting Sunday, lol.

lol Great QBs do that not good QBs.. Cutler is a good qb not a great one i dont see him makin the wrs very much better at all the way that brady and manning do.. mostly brady hes done all his championship stuff with avg-below avg wrs.. but while i do agree cutler can make their wrs a little better i really doubt that he has the leadership to make them a lot better and take them further then Orton could have...

Good QBs make the people around them better too. The last time I checked there was only three QBs that you could put in the category of being great: Peyton, Mr. Brady and Big Ben. We all know what they bring to the table, but to say a good QB doesn't do that, doesn't make sense. Brees, Palmer, Garrard, Romo, Mcnabb, Eli, Ryan and Rivers are all good QBs that make the people around them better. My fault and CUTLER, lol! Far as the leadership part that will come with time, he is still young. I still think he is going to be deadly. The Bears have a running game and a better defense. Two things he didn't have in Denver. Hester can get the job done and Olsen is one of the best young TEs in the league right now. Throw in Forte who ran for over 1300 yards with defenses keying in on him, he has enough tools to get the job done. Yes sir.