After weeks of contention, McJaygate ended happily, at least for Broncos officials on the top floor of Dove Valley. Denver shipped disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears on Thursday in a blockbuster trade, putting an end to the acrimonious saga between new coach Josh McDaniels and his unhappy quarterback.
The Broncos received quarterback Kyle Orton, two first-round picks and a third-round pick in exchange for Cutler and a fifth-round pick.
“I’m sure he’s excited to move on and play in Chicago, and we’re excited about the opportunity we have,” McDaniels said.
And no, McDaniels did not try to call Cutler to inform him of the trade, not after the team’s difficulty getting hold of Cutler the past 10 days. Instead, Broncos general manager Brian Xanders notified Cutler’s agent, Bus Cook, that the deal had been consummated.
“I don’t feel like Jay would have had any more desire to speak to me now than he’s had in the past,” McDaniels said.
Cutler declined to comment upon hearing of the trade. The Broncos now have the No. 12 and No. 18 picks in the draft that begins April 25 and will have five selections in the first three rounds. They also will have two experienced starters, Orton and Chris Simms, competing at quarterback.
“Business deals were done”
“At the end of the day, business deals were done and the organization made a decision to move in a different direction,” said Brian Dawkins, the Broncos’ newly acquired veteran safety. “Though this obviously was a shocker for everybody that Jay’s moving on, it’s finally solidified that we’re moving on. I am very, very excited about the prospects of moving forward. We’re going to rally behind whoever is going to be at that position.”
Cutler goes to a Bears team whose trademarks have been a strong defense and strong running game. Bears coach Lovie Smith also has the type of calm, soothing manner that may well suit Cutler, who clashed with McDaniels.
However, Cutler may have an issue with Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner. Coming out of high school, Cutler thought he had a scholarship to the University of Illinois, where Turner was the head coach. Cutler has said Turner pulled the scholarship late in the recruiting process, resulting in his going to Vanderbilt.
The Bears were Cutler’s favorite NFL team while he was growing up in Santa Claus, Ind.
“Good for Jay,” said Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler, one of Cutler’s best friends on his former team. “We’ll see how it turns out.”
The Broncos may have traded Cutler out of their conference, but they didn’t get him off their 2009 schedule. The Bears play the Broncos in Game 3 of the preseason schedule, Aug. 30 at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Reaction to the trade around the NFL was mixed. Many league executives would argue that a quarterback with Cutler’s mix of youth, experience and talent is so rare, there’s no such thing as fair compensation.
“The Chicago Bears have been looking for a franchise quarterback throughout the history of the club,” said Ted Sundquist, the Broncos’ former general manager who drafted Cutler in 2006. “They got one today. They elevated themselves to the team to beat in the NFC North. On Denver’s side of the trade, obviously on paper it looks extremely lucrative.”
Considering the Broncos had no choice but to trade Cutler, who had made it clear since Feb. 28 that he did not want to play for McDaniels, the return haul was impressive, two No. 1 picks and a quarterback.
Most NFL scouts would say Cutler has vastly superior talent to Orton. He certainly has a much stronger arm. Through his first 37 NFL games, Cutler compares favorably to many of the league’s all-time greats, averaging 243.9 passing yards a game with a career 87.1 passer rating. Orton in 33 games has averaged 161.1 passing yards with a 71.1 rating.
Orton “smart . . . tough”
Yet Orton has an uncanny knack for getting his team to rally around him. He has a career 21-12 record, including 15-2 at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Cutler has a career 17-20 record.
“I think you might be underrating Kyle’s ability,” McDaniels said. “I think Kyle has good ability. He’s 21-12 as a starter. To me that’s the most important statistic in football. It represents how he affects his team. This guy has been productive. He does a lot of things well. He’s smart, he’s accurate. He’s a very competitive player, he’s tough and he’s a great teammate, and we’re looking forward to adding him to our roster.”
Setting the two quarterbacks aside, first-round draft picks are considered a valuable commodity. The Broncos got two of them, plus a third-round pick in exchange for the extra fifth-round pick they attained last season from Seattle in exchange for receiver Keary Colbert.
If the Bears overpaid, it was because they were engaged in a bidding war. The Washington Redskins also aggressively pursued Cutler, but they were unable to deal their current quarterback, Jason Campbell, for the second-round pick they were seeking.
Like the Bears, Washington was willing to part with two first-round picks. The New York Jets, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Minnesota were the other teams involved, to various degrees, in the Cutler trade discussions.
“I think what the Broncos had was a perfect situation,” said Charlie Casserly, a former general manager with the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans. “Because at the point this happened it was before the draft, and we’ve got a year where the quarterback class is not very strong. You’ve got more teams that need quarterbacks than don’t. So they had options.
“Getting two No. 1s I didn’t think was out of the realm of possibility. They were able to get a little bit more than that. The two No. 1s was not a surprise to me, but getting the quarterback (Orton) was a bonus.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
