Broncos fans should be taking a collective sigh of relief right now. Jay Cutler was a major headache for a generally classy organization that did not deserve such a hassle. But the Broncos ultimately came out on top in trading their young signal-caller who has yet to live up to his reputation.
Seven Broncos running backs went down with season-ending injuries last year, and by the end of the season, they were handing the ball off to a player who had spent the first half of the season working in a cell phone kiosk at a mall. With no options at running back, the Broncos had no choice but to let Cutler throw on almost every play.
Even Ryan Leaf, one of the worst quarterbacks of all-time, could have generated some big numbers playing in that offense. And he probably would have been comparable to Cutler in interceptions, where his 18 picks were second only to Brett Favre, who played the last part of the season with an injured shoulder before riding off into the sunset (again).
Sure, the Chicago Bears significantly improved their team by trading for Cutler. With Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton sharing snaps over the last few years, almost anything would have been an improvement.
But Bears fans should take this trade with a grain of salt. Going from a team with two outstanding young receivers to a team whose best offensive option is their kick returner, Cutler will likely struggle to even approach the numbers he produced in Denver.
The price the Bears paid was extremely steep. The NFL Draft is a sort of national holiday for football fans, a weekend that marks the beginning of a new season, when optimism is high for every team except Detroit. In giving up their first-round draft picks for each of the next two years, the Bears brass are mortgaging their future by placing far too much hope in Cutler as the missing link.
A team is only as strong as its weakest link, but if Cutler loses his cool again, the entire chain may begin to crumble.
