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A Look Back at the Jay Cutler-Kyle Orton Trade

chitown18 Written by chitown18, Monday June 22 2009
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So I've had a few months to think this whole trade over, and each day that passes, I get more and more frustrated. Why would the Bears trade away virtually four starters for a "franchise" quarterback? Putting all my bias aside for Kyle Orton, was he really that bad? The answer...no. Was he capable of being the franchise quarterback? Not likely. But why trade away one of the few players that actually made an impact on the team last year for a crying, bitchy little brat that has proven absolutly NOTHING in the NFL? This trade is mind boggling and the Bears just set themselves back a couple of years.
 

First off, the trade itself. The Chicago Bears traded Kyle Orton,  2009 and 2010 first round picks, and a 2009 third round pick to the Denver Broncos for Jay Cutler and a 2009 fifth round pick. So, as stated earlier, the Bears gave away 4 starters for one starter and a backup. Why? The answer...because the Bears haven't had a franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman (back in the 1940s).  Jerry Angalo (JA), Bears General Manager, has never made a big move, whether it be signing a free agent or a trade. Most Bears fans (myself included) have criticized him for not making a move. The time he does it...he royaly screws up.

A little background info on myself, I am a HUGE Purdue fan and always support the Old Gold and Black. I will be attending Purdue University this fall as a freshman. Kyle Orton (Purdue quarterback from 2001-2004) is my second favorite player in the NFL next to Drew Brees, who also went to Purdue from 1997-2000. Go ahead, laugh it up. But we'll see who has the last laugh 10 years down the road. Now, I'm putting my bias for Orton aside and looking at this trade and seeing how this helps the Bears. Honestly, it makes them a little worse. Now you might be asking yourself "But we just improved the quarterback position by getting a Pro Bowl QB, so how does that make us worse?" The answer...I'll give you four questions and answer all of them. 1.) Is Jay Cutler going to be throwing the ball to himself? NO   2.) Is Jay Cutler going to be blocking for himself? NO   3.) Is Jay Cutler playing defense as well as offense? NO   4.) Is Jay Cutler taking over Ron Turner's position as the Offensive Coordinator? NO.
 

As you see by those four questions, the Bears have too many holes to fill before they can even start to think about the playoffs. First off, the wide receiver position. Who catching the football these days for the Bears? Many Bears fan think Devin Hester is our guy. Well, when he learns to run a route correctly, then we can start talking. Until then, our best receiver is our running back...kind of scary isn't it. I do like the drafting of Iglesias and Knox but they are only rookies and need a couple of years to get use to the transition of college ball to the NFL. The Bears could sign Brandon Marshall or Paxico, but why deal with the off-the-field issues? Yes, landing Marshall would help Cutler's transition into Chicago, but we can't have his problems that occur off the field.
 

Second question...the offensive line. Sure we sign Orlando Pace, but we're about 5 years too late. We're HOPING on Chris Williams to be healthy, Olin Krutz to remain healthy, and three other 30-something year old players to block for our new "franchise" quarterback. JA hasn't done anything to help this position (except for Chris Williams in last years draft) and now it's starting to show.
 

Third question...defense. There's that old cliche that defense wins championships. The Bears have an aging defense that has gotton worse and worse over the past 4 seasons. 2005 it was a top 5 defense. 2006 a top 10. 2007 a top 15. In 2008, it was the 21st ranked defense in the league. That's not good in case you were wondering. Now I understand that Lovie is taking over the defense, and I think that's good. We also got a little help by drafting Jarron Gilbert, D.J. Moore, and Marcus Freeman, but again, they are only rookies and they are not going to make impacts immediantly.

Forth question...Ron Turner. He is the Bears Offensive Coordinator. He also couldn't coach a pee-wee team. This guy's playcalling sucks and is too predictable. He could be the Patriots OC and find a way to screw things up. FIRE HIS ASS NOW JA!!!
 

Now, back to "the savior" Jay Cutler. What exactly has he done in the NFL. Oh wait, he threw for 4,000 yards last season...big deal. He was just the product of a system. Look at the Patriots. Tom Brady, some no name guy out of Michigan, gets a shot to play because the starting quarterback gets injured and he ends up winning three Super Bowls. Last season, he gets injured and Matt Cassel takes over and does a great job. Why???because of the system. After last season, a lot of Bears fans wanted Matt Cassel. I said that some team is going to pay too much for him and he'll be a bust and he was just a system QB. Well, nnow he is in Kansas City, so we'll see hoe that plays out. Back to Cutler. How'd his TEAM do last season??? Oh yeah, they lost their LAST 4 GAMES and finsihed 8-8 in a terrible division. Jay Cutler has a 17-21 record as a starter in the NFL, and just because he went to a Pro Bowl, he's God. Give me a fucking break. This guy had the BEST offensive line in the AFC last season and he actually had wide receivers to throw to. Until he proves something to me, I just don't see him has a "franchise" quarterback.
 

Kyle Orton is by no means a great quarterback. He is tagged as a game manager, and rightfully so. But Kyle Orton is 21-12 as a starter in the NFL and was 15-2 at Solider Field. 15-2...that's the BEST winning precentage at home for ANY quarterback in the past 5 seasons. Yes, even better than Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Brett Farve. Kyle Orton is...you ready...A WINNER. He has a winning mentality that can not be replaced. Throughout his career (both college and professional) he has been a proven winner. His senior season at Purdue he was front runner in the Heisman race (award to the best player in college football) until he got injured. He had Purdue ranked number 5 in the nation. If not for "the fumble" (hold on, let me go cry for five minutes) Kyle Orton would've been a first round pick. Another attribute of Kyle Orton is his leadership and attitude on and off the field. His teammates voted him team captin for a reason. Orton as never ever said a bad thing about a player or singled out a player in a press conference. Look at the tapes, and every time it's "we all have to improve, starting with myself. I made mistakes. I did this. I did that." He shows that he knows he has to improve, while Cutler just singles out players and blames them for his faults (coughrexgrossmancough). Orton has a very strong arm, but has accuracy issues over 15 yards. That can fixed over timing with his receivers. Orton may not put up 30 TDs and 4,000 yards a season, but that wasn't his role as a Bear. He was put in to win football games, and he did that.
 

Here is another thing to consider and in my mind, it's the most important. Orton got the 2008-2009 Bears within a squib kick from reaching the playoffs w/ a bad O-line, Arena League wide receivers, a rookie running back that was invisible the last couple of games, the 21st ranked defense, and played on one leg for half of the season. During the last game, the commentators said they asked Orton if it hurt when he stepped into a pass, and Orton replied, "It hurts doing anything." He was on fire before his injury and came back after one weeks rest for a four week injury. That takes guts. Jay Cutler did nothing with more talent on the field.
 

Back to the whole "system" quarterback point. Kyle Orton ran the spread offense at Purdue. It involves a lot of shotgun formation, quick decision making and most importantly, short throws. All three of those points is where Kyle Orton's strengths lie. He thrives in the shotgun, he's a very very smart individual (would've gotten a scholarship to Purdue even if he didn't play football), and from 0-15 yards, he is as good has any quarterback in the NFL. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kyle Orton in the Pro Bowl a few years down the road if the Broncos really give him a shot.
 

Now mabey five years down the road this will work out for the Bears. The main point I was trying to get across was the fact that the quarterback position was the last psoition we had to change THIS offseason. I am first and foremost a Bears fan. I hope that Cutler works out down the road, but we'll just have to wait and see.

BEAR DOWN!


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8 comments


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mikemike, over 2 years ago said:

wow cutler looks like a stud and orton is getting booed,and 1st round picks are overrated id rather have more later picks instead of the 1st rounder,first round picks are hard to sign,too much money for unknown players,you can get a better pick in the 4th round thats better and cheaper than the 18th pick.the more i see cutler in a bears uni gunning it around making the bears wrs looking like probowlers it makes it worth it

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Nolan ThomasNolan Thomas, over 2 years ago said:

Hmmmm Orton or Cutler? Tough decision......NOT! Cutler is by far a better QB then Orton will ever even dream of being. Peever said it all..Caviar to Sardines!

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ChuckyChucky, over 2 years ago said:

Rick, you are as delusional as the author of this article. Anyone who doesn't truly believe the Bears will be 100% better with Cutler over Orton is in desperate need of a brain transplant. And 1st round receivers are no guarantee either. Brandon Marshall was a 4th rounder, Eddie Royal was a 2nd rounder. Cutler made them both stars. Wake up and smell the coffee!

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RickRick, over 2 years ago said:

Spot on assessment. This was going to be the year that Orton silenced the critics (and still may be). I'm a Bears fan and I think we will be fine with Jay, but not necessarily better than we would have been anyway with Orton, the line we have now, and a 1st round WR.

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RefsWerePaidOffRefsWerePaidOff, over 2 years ago said:

Sorry chitown18 but the only crying, bitchy little brat around here IS YOU. You must be living in a fantasy world, where 4 top draft picks will have a great impact as a starter (Dan Bazuin, Cedric Benson, Mark Bradley). Jay Cutler makes throws that Kyle Orton can't. Our O-line will be better than last year, letting St Clair alone proves that. The biggest problem on D was the lack of a pass rush. We drafted Harrison, and now Gilbert. AND we have Marinelli as D-line coach. Your article wreaks of your love of Kyle Orton. I can't wait for your next article, about how much you love the Broncos and their pickup of Kyle Orton.

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GregGreg, over 2 years ago said:

Seems to me that you were not able to put your Purdue bias away. From a Denver fan's perspective, the Broncos are in lots of trouble having to pick between Orton and Simms now. Seems to me that the Bears have been a decent QB away from much greater things for a long time now and I have to believe that Cutler, especially with his newfound desire to succeed, will improve the Bears significantly. Orton couldn't even beat the Texans with the playoffs on the line and was already crying about pain so he would have an excuse for failure--yep, he's a true champ all right. When Cutler continues his great stats in Chicago and Orton gets booed out of Denver, will you write a follow-up? This one should have been filed under "Purdue" and not under "Bears." After all, you sound like more of an Orton fan than a Bear's fan. Good luck with the studies.

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MarkoMarko, over 2 years ago said:

What an ultra maroon! Say hello to Uncle Schlereth over at ESPN!

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PeeverPeever, over 2 years ago said:

You obviously know nothing about football. The only reason Kyle Orton has a winning record is because of the Bears defense and special teams. Rex Grossman has a winning record with the Bears too! That says it all. The only reason Jay Cutler has a losing record is because the defense on his teams totally sucked. Orton is a back up at best. He has nowhere near the talent that Cutler has. Orton's accuracy over 15 yards is atrocious. He is a career dink and dunker. Denver's O-line and receivers looked good because of Cutler's arm, accuracy and mobility to avoid sacks. Orton has no accuracy, no mobility, and it will show. Why do you think Marshall wants out of Denver all of a sudden. Because he has seen Orton in OTAs and knows his stats are going to plummet. And 1st round picks are not guaranteed starters in the NFL. Your man love for Orton, as well as your 17-18 year old immaturity truly shows with this asinine article. Why don't you go stick your nose up Orton's jock strap a little deeper. Stop watching ESPN and listen to people that actually know something about football. Cutler to Orton is like Caviar to Sardines.