Welcome back and keep the queries coming
Today’s is from Scott Sanders in Littleton.
Q: The Jay Cutler trade needs to be measured on more than Cutler vs. Kyle Orton. Besides Robert Ayers, who did Denver get with the other draft pick in 2009, and don’t they have a first-round 2010 draft pick for Cutler from Chicago?
A: Scott, there were many other factors in and around the Cutler trade, and many will be debated for decades. But unfortunately for Orton, much of what he does with the Broncos will be judged by a lot of folks in Denver with what Cutler accomplishes in Chicago.
I’m not sure he can escape that anytime soon.
Over the long haul it may evaporate some, but in the near future that’s going to be the comparison for an awful lot of people, mostly from those who don’t think the team should have made the trade.
For the Broncos, beyond Orton’s play, Robert Ayers’ career could end up being a key portion of the deal — if he can grow into a highly productive outside linebacker in their 3-4.
But quarterbacks are king, and trading a Pro Bowl passer will always spark an argument.
The original trade was Cutler and the Broncos’ fifth-round pick in ’09 to the Bears for Orton, the Bears’ first-round pick in ’09, first-round pick in ’10 and a third-round pick in ’09.
The Broncos used the first-rounder they got from the Bears to select Ayers 18th overall. They traded the third-rounder to the Steelers on draft day as part of a deal to move around in the second round and take tight end Richard Quinn. They also got guard Seth Olsen with the other pick obtained in that trade.
They kept Chicago’s first rounder in ’10, but traded their own first rounder in ’10 to Seattle to move up in the second and select Alphonso Smith.
If, for some reason, the Bears struggle and that first-round pick is good next April, that could mute some of the criticism of the deal, but if the pick the Broncos traded away ends up better than the one they kept, the comparisons will only start again.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
