Why the 0-16 Lions Should Be Trading for Jay Cutler Over Drafting Matt Stafford

The 2008 Detroit Lions finished the season last year with an all time NFL record worst 0-16 record. Therefore, essentially they are the worst team of all time, which leaves them with an enormous amount of improvement needed.

When a team is in a rut and has a terrible season, usually most of the blame goes to the quarterback. Well that’s what happened when the Lions traded their starting quarterback Jon Kitna to the Cowboys earlier this week.

This move has left the team with no starting QB, indicating that they will take Georgia QB Matthew Stafford in next month’s NFL Draft with the first overall pick.

This is a move that the inexperienced front office of the Lions needs to rethink.

Earlier this week, trade rumors revolving around young Denver Bronco’s starting QB Jay Cutler were released. Cutler has played well in his first few years as a starter, but apparently not as well as the team had hoped. To me the acquisition of Cutler would be a more logical move for the degenerate team from Detroit.

So far, I don’t believe that Stafford has proven to be a no doubt first overall franchise quarterback. Cutler, on the other hand, has proven that he can run a team, and run a team well.

If it were not for Denver’s horrendous defense last season, the Bronco’s would have been a shoo-in for their division title.

Cutler can give you a few more years of experience; he is a pretty good decision maker and has a cannon for an arm, as does Stafford. Cutler knows what it's like to have the pressure of being an NFL starting QB.

As many teams learned from Ryan Leaf in 1998, a dominant college career cannot guarantee any type of success at the next level. With Cutler you get experience, young talent, and the great attitude. Stafford may have the tools, but can he use them in the NFL to a point of success.

What the Lions need to do is attempt to trade a third or fourth round pick, along with another player to the Broncos in exchange for Cutler, then use their first overall pick on Aaron Curry out of Wake Forest, or a top cornerback, as their defense needs probably more help than their offense which did have one bright spot on the field last year in Calvin Johnson.

Stafford can not in any way hurt them, and I’m sure he will be a solid NFL QB, but a trade to get Cutler would improve the team so much more and give them much more flexibility when April rolls around and the Detroit Lions are on the clock.