Phew. The NFL is a fun league.

The Denver Broncos have traded Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears (pending a physical examination). I am not going to go into details about the trade because this story is going to be on every news station today but I can throw in my 2cents.

What a deal!

I like both QBs involved in the trade, Cutler and Horton.

I remember watching Horton during his rookie year (camp and preseason) and thinking, "this guy definitely has some talent". I told my brother at that time that Kyle Horton should be able to play in the NFL for sure; and then I picked up Horton for my Fantasy Football team that season. Unfortunately, the Bears lost their minds in giving the reigns to Rex Grossman and it looked like Horton would not get a chance to reach his potential. Fast forward a few years until today and it looks like Horton has finally made a name for himself - just not on the football field. He will now (potentially, assuming the trade goes through) go down in history as part of the Jay Cutler trade.

As for Cutler, he would do well to embrace this deal whole-heartedly. He is leaving an increasingly competitive division in the AFC West to go to a relatively easy NFC North division. Nothing can beat having to play the Packers, the Vikings and the Lions twice every season; anything short of 3 wins versus that division would be a disappointment. That leaves 10 games for the Bears to pound out wins. Something tells me the Bears will be making some noise next season and I can not wait for the official 2009 schedules to be announced.

One thing is for sure, the August 30th preseason matchup between the 2 teams will be sold out.

Both teams come out as winners in this trade. The Broncos are poised to start off the Josh McDaniels era with a fresh bang along with 10 draft picks. The Bears are poised to make another deep playoff run with the acquisition of Cutler and Orlando Pace along with (most likely) a newly minted WR from the draft. If the Cardinals can make the Superbowl, the Bears can do it too. Cutler certainly should not be lacking any motivation to prove himself.

2 other teams that greatly benefit from this trade are the Minnesota Vikings and the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers no longer have an excuse if they do not win the AFC West division and the Vikings better start working the phones to acquire a Premier QB soon - for example, Donovan McNabb (McNabb and AP, imagine that!). This year's draft just got interesting.

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It is about time

I mentioned in a previous article that the Jay Cutler-Josh McDaniels-Denver Broncos issue was getting too drawn out (well, I alluded to it anyway). It seems like the whole ordeal will soon be at an end.


It all started when Josh McDaniels (the new Broncos Head Coach from the way of the New England Patriots) had some sort of discussion with the Kansas City Chiefs about a possible trade for Cutler in exchange for Matt Cassel and this did not go over well with Cutler. He has since stated that he no longer trusts McDaniels or the Broncos and claimed irreconcilable differences.


It is about time the Broncos brass showed some balls in this matter. I love watching Jay Cutler play and there is no denying how talented or exciting this guy is on the football field however, he just is not being reasonable. How many times does McNabb's name come up in trade talks? Drew Bledsoe played for how many teams? Kurt Warner, how many teams has he played for now?? That goes with the territory. Cutler should not trouble himself with all the he said-she said rhetoric. He has talent, he can play at a high-level and he is a young guy; who cares what stance the Broncos have? He needs to protect his family and his welfare 1st, his teammates' 2nd, the fans and then the Broncos. It seems to me that he was expecting too much from the Broncos.


Hopefully, Cutler does get traded for Cassel or a high draft pick. If the Broncos want to start over with Stafford, great. Cutler should use this as motivation to go after the title next season because, no matter what team he plays for now, he has all the support he will need to be successful. I hope he does not talk to the media anymore until it is decided when and where he will be playing once the season starts. I wish both parties the best of luck.

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Cut-McDan Saga Continues

Is anyone else sick and tired of the Jay Cutler vs. McDaniels (and the Broncos Organization) story? I know I am.



Cutler has some very intangible skills on the gridiron. He is the current face of the Broncos franchise and one of the premier Quarterbacks in the NFL (QB). A Pro-Bowl calibre QB with a strong mouth and vocalized leadership. The guy also makes some decent coinage playing in the NFL. For the life of me I can not understand why he is acting so hurt by trade rumours and his distrust for his new coach Josh McDaniels. His handling of this whole situation is coming across as childish and can only hurt his stock. If his goal was to extricate himself from the Broncos, he certainly is not doing himself any favors. Football is a game but the NFL is a business and I think a lot of players need to understand that distinction. Hopefully, he shows up to play Football and the Business of playing Football is handled behind closed doors where it belongs.

As for McDaniels, he certainly is not absolved from this matter but the fact remains that he is the Coach; he was hired by the Broncos to do a job. Being as this is his 1st professional Head Coaching job the presumtion is that the sky is the only limit. He has nowhere else but up to go from here. Starting his career in a murky sort of situation hopefully should provide him with enough arsenal for the Mid-Late season run next year. Whatever motivational tools he has in his bag of tricks might be the time is now for show and tell. Please make this story disappear soon and replace it with Broncos football.

Thanks.

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