Dec. 30, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) walks off the field after defeating the Detroit Lions 26-24 at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Editor’s Note: Originally posted on March 1, 2013

We’re coming up on the fourth anniversary of the trade between the Bears and Denver Broncos to acquire Jay Cutler. Many fans and executives around the league felt Chicago had finally found the missing puzzle piece, a franchise QB. With that subject in mind, let’s take a look back to that transaction and see how the Bears have fared since then.

On April 2, 2009, Jay Cutler was officially traded to the Chicago Bears after requesting a trade from the Denver Broncos. In the deal, Chicago received Jay Cutler and a fifth-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft in exchange for quarterback Kyle Orton, first-round picks in the 2009 and 2010 drafts and the Bears’ third-round pick in 2009 as well. Both Cutler and Orton had worn out their welcome in Denver and Chicago and were in need of a change of scenery, or fan bases, if you will. The move was well-received in both cities and brought a fresh slate to each team’s offensive identity.

With the recently acquired first-round draft pick from Chicago, the Broncos selected DE Robert Ayers from Tennessee with the 18th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Denver traded their third-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who drafted WR Mike Wallace from Ole Miss with the 84th overall selection in the draft. The first-round pick in the 2010 draft that Denver had received from Chicago was traded to San Francisco, who drafted OT Anthony Davis from Rutgers with the 11th overall pick in the draft. The Bears used Denver’s fifth-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft on Johnny Knox from Abilene Christian University. He was the 140th overall pick in that year’s draft.  (more…)

Here’s a summary of the picks (Bears’ 2010 opponents in bold):

1    Rams    Sam Bradford    QB
2    Lions    Ndamukong Suh    DT
3    Bucs    Gerald McCoy    DT
4    Redskins    Trent Williams    OT
5    Chiefs    Eric Berry    SS
6    Seahawks    Russell Okung    OT
7    Browns    Joe Haden    CB
8    Raiders    Rolando McClain    LB
9    Bills    C.J. Spiller    RB
10    Jaguars    Tyson Alualu    DE

(more…)

The Broncos owned the 11th pick to start the draft and swapped it with San Francisco for the Niners’ No. 13 overall selection.

They parlayed that pick into the Eagles’ No. 24 and Philadelphia’s two third-round picks, Nos. 70 and 87 overall.

The Eagles selected Michigan pass-rusher Brandon Graham with the pick.

It will be interesting to see what the Jay Cutler trade from last season will ultimately mean to the Broncos.  All the while, the Bears a’re sitting on the sidelines watching tonight.

Keep up with all the action on CBS Sports’ Live Draft Show.

Watch Inside the Draft Live

Last year, the Bears sent two first-round picks (and more) to the Broncos for quarterback Jay Cutler. To date, the move has been a failure — and it has left coach Lovie Smith and GM Jerry Angelo on wafer-thin ice.

The situation has created sufficient desperation to prompt the Bears to overpay for a trio for day one free agents – Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor and Brandon Manumaleuna — which in the short term has removed the sense of gloom and doom that had taken over Halas Hall.

So with the Broncos looking to unload receiver Brandon Marshall, why don’t the Bears try to get him? Sure, the Broncos want a first-round draft pick and the Bears already sent theirs to Denver in the Cutler deal. The Bears should instead dangle their 2011 first-rounder, and possibly throw in a conditional selection based on Marshall’s performance in the coming season.

If the Marshall plan fails, Angelo and Smith likely won’t be there to not use the first-round pick in 2011 anyway. If it works, Angelo and Smith would gladly give up the pick for the ensuing job security.

Though the Broncos may not want to enable a Cutler-Marshall reunion, they may not have many/any other options for unloading a guy they clearly don’t want.

(more…)

“Mistake-free” that McD.  Sure, Jay Cutler may have not been the right puzzle piece to the jigsaw here in Denver, and I trust McD’s evaluation of that scenario. However, the Broncos need to right the ship this offseason by bringing in someone with a powerful arm. It was apparent that last season the offensive coaching staff didn’t trust Kyle Orton’s arm enough to let him throw down field. Defenses stuffed the run, let Orton throw short, and quickly forced the Broncos into punting the ball. Orton wasn’t allowed to pass deep often enough to keep opposing defenses honest.

Josh McDaniels wanted a game manager, and that’s what he got in Orton. Orton kept the turnovers to a minimal level at the beginning of the season, but once teams figured out that his arm only goes for so many yards, they gave him those short passes. More than half of Orton’s passes went for 10 yards or less. When it was time for him to go long, he was out of practice, and I think he got the jitters. We need to complement guys like Brandon Marshall (if he’s back), Eddie Royal (nearly non-existent last year), and Jabar Gaffney.

(more…)

Second Time Around

Even though it’s Week 14, this marks the first opportunity that the Bears will have to play an opponent for the second time this season.   We know that the coaching staff sucks at making adjustments, but I’m really interested to see how Jay Cutler adjusts to a repeat opponent.  Can he find things on film that he can exploit?  Can he correct for past errors?  Heck, can he just stop throwing interceptions?

Measuring Stick

Three of the final four games are against the NFC North and it’s time to see how we really stack up.  We already have an idea about how we stack up to the Packers and Vikings, but the one that really scares me is Week 17 in Detroit.  It could be a painful wake-up call if we lose to the Lions.  At the start of the season, this one seemed like a slam dunk, but I think we’d all agree that this isn’t the case.   (more…)

Let me preface my LOWER THE BOOM by saying that I understand that the Jay Cutler trade was a HUGE component of the Chicago Bears draft day.  I get it.  I appreciate what went into making that trade happen and will stand by the trade regardless of how everything with Cutler ultimately turns out.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again; Jerry Angelo identified a glaring hole on the Bears and made a bold move to address it.  Thank you Jerry!

Thank being said, WTF is going on up at Halas Hall?  The Bears entered the draft Saturday with only one selection, #49, midway through the 2nd round.   As fans watched NFC North opponents make pick after pick to bolster their teams, we sat idly by, rubbing our new Jay Cutler statues with eager anticipation that when pick #49 rolled around, the Bears would select a much-needed wide receiver or a safety to quarterback the defense.

As the picks went along in the 2nd round, I kept checking my draft board.  Delmas and Chung off the board right off the bat.  WR Brian Robiske selected by the Browns.  Damn.   Other positions falling off the board, but still a couple of players on the board.  The Raiders select a safety, but it’s a guy that Mel Kiper considered a 7th rounder!  What is Al Davis doing?  Thanks Raiders.  William Moore, the safety from Mizzou and Mohammed Massaquoi are still on the board as the Bears go on the clock.  Sweet!  We will get one of our guys.

Wait a second.  Instead, the Bears traded away their lone Day 1 selection to trade down for 3rd and 4th round picks from Seattle.   Why?  I think the Bears are taking the “throw enough crap at the wall and some of it is bound to stick” approach to the draft.

They head into Sunday with nine selections: two 3′s, two 4′s, two 5′s, a 6 and two 7′s.  Great.  We have a ton of Day 2 picks and there are certainly tons of holes to fill.  Let’s face it, though, Day 1 players are difference makers, Day 2 players are more hit or miss.  For every Lance Briggs you get a Michael Okwo or three.

The cherry on top of Day 1 is that Jerry Angelo claims to have been in negotiations with the Arizona Cardinals for disgruntled wide receiver Anquan Boldin.   This from Brad Biggs’ blog:

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the smile on Jerry Angelo’s face says it all.  By the way, Jerry must have a tanning bed in the war room, because he is awfully tan for someone who is supposed to be hunkered down planning for the draft.

I am actually thinking about changing the name of the blog to All Things Jay Cutler.  In the meantime, here is an excerpt of the Chicago Bears press conference introducing new franchise quarterback Jay Cutler along with a post-conference interview, courtesy of the NFL Network . (more…)