The Chicago Bears have a legitimate franchise quarterback for the first time in years after acquiring Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos in 2009 and while he hasn't led the team to a Super Bowl, he has put up some record stats for the team and his deal changed the face of the NFL over the next few years.
Cutler's move to the Bears set up a number of things down the line, including Tim Tebow coming to the Broncos and then getting traded to the Jets, as well as Peyton Manning signing with the team. If Cutler was still in Denver, chances are neither move would have ever happened and now that Manning is a star on the Broncos and Tebow is with the Patriots, it's interesting to look at how the dominoes fell for the teams.
The Broncos back in 2009 traded Cutler for quarterback Kyle Orton and first-round picks in 2009 (18th overall) and 2010, along with a third-round pick (84th overall) in 2009 and while the Broncos used those picks, clearly the Bears got the better end of the deal. Denver may say that they did now because it set up getting Peyton Manning, but at the time it was a tough one. The Bears felt they finally had a quarterback that could get them over the top and while he has led them to the playoffs, he has yet to get to a Super Bowl.
The move for Cutler gave the Bears a legitimate QB and he came to the team after throwing for 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions and at the time he had completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 9,024 yards, 54 TDs and 37 interceptions in 37 career games. The past few seasons have been up and down for the Bears, but he has thrown for over 3,000 yards three out of four seasons and apart from missing six games in 2011, he has played in at least 15 in every season with the team.
Last year Cutler had 3,033 yards and 19 touchdowns and this season with Marc Trestman in the fold he is expected to do much more. At the time the Bears said: "We felt that [Cutler] is a very good person, a good leader," Angelo said. "He had some things that happened in Denver. We recognized those, but we treated them as just speed bumps, part of the growing process. He's highly competitive, he's highly emotional. That just comes with the territory."