Denver Broncos Trade Jeff George—I Mean Jay Cutler—to Chicago

Well, it's finally over.  No longer do I have to ponder the reality of Jay Cutler as my team's QB. 

I have been a Broncos' fan for a long, long time.  I had a dog named "Elway", tons of memorabilia, and my eight-year-old son is as big a Denver fan as you will find.

That dog passed away a few years back and I've yet to replace him. The Broncos have yet to replace John Elway as well.

I remember where I was and what I was doing when the Broncos made a trade to move up for Cutler and draft him with the 11th overall pick of the 2006 NFL draft. 

My first impression of him was that he was supposed to be a heck of a talent with golden arm, but then why did he go to Vanderbilt to play football?

I know that he was the SEC player of the year and was considered to be the best prospect in the draft by many experts.

Mike Shanahan adored the kid. He couldn't wait to get Jake Plummer out of there. 

In his rookie season, he showed a lot of upside by playing well, throwing nine touchdowns to only five picks in five games. 

In season two, he was even better, and last season, he was selected to his first Pro Bowl. 

As I watched Cutler's career in Denver, I paid very close attention to the play of "my" quarterback. 

I have always realized how well he throws the football, but there was definitely something missing. He had a very deliberate delivery that I think enabled the defense to get a jump on some of his passes.

Cutler threw some terrible interceptions down the stretch. In the last six games of the 2008 season, he had only seven touchdowns and threw seven interceptions. 

The thing that really started to bother me was his lackadaisical attitude. It seemed like the only time he got upset was when one of his receivers dropped a pass; often, yelling at that player to the point that it crossed the line.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen Brett Favre and Peyton Manning do the same thing.  They just did it more gracefully. In my opinion, Cutler was a punk in these instances.

He also never got mad when he threw an interception in a crucial moment. I wasn't looking for the guy to start crying or anything, but at least show that you care. 

What irritated me the most about Cutler, was that he once said in an interview with Sporting News' Steve Greenberg, that he had a stronger arm then Elway. Even if that was true, which it's not, you don't say something like that. I questioned his judgement from that point on. 

-- Cutler on his arm vs. John Elway's: "I have a stronger arm than John, hands down. I'll bet on it against anybody's in the league. Brett Favre's got a cannon. But on game days, there's nobody in the league who's going to throw it harder than I am at all."

Today Cutler was traded to the Chicago Bears for starting quarterback Kyle Orton, 2009 1st and 3rd round draft picks and another 1st rounder in 2010. The Bears got the Broncos' 2009 5th rounder as well.

Draft picks are no sure thing, but that sure sounds like one heck of a deal for the Broncos.

I'm a little worried that I might miss out on the potential of Cutler, but after what has happened this offseason, it was time to go. He was starting to remind me Jeff George. George had as good an arm as anyone to ever play in the NFL, but didn't have the attitude to go with it.

A year ago, my son had a choice between a Champ Bailey jersey and one of Cutler's.  I'm glad he went with No. 24.