The Jay Cutler Trade: The NFL Draft Impact

Just days after officially putting quarterback Jay Cutler on the market, the Broncos ended the suspense by agreeing to trade Cutler to the Chicago Bears.  In exchange for the sensistive 26-year franchise quarterback, the Broncos received a bounty of draft picks to restock a fading roster.   There is plenty of talk on the web regarding who got the best of the deal and whether Cutler is a good fit for Chicago—he is—but being a draftnik, let's breakdown the deal from the draft perspective.

Trade specifics:

Chicago receives quarterback Jay Cutler and a fifth round pick (140th overall). They also followed up the trade by signing past his prime left tackle Orlando Pace.

Denver receives Chicago's first (18th) and third (84th) round picks in 2009, the Bears first rounder in 2010 and quarterback Kyle Orton.

How the trade impacts the Bears' draft:

While Cutler is only 26 years old, this trade was made in an effort to win now before its aging defense springs too many leaks to make a run at another Super Bowl.  As a result, the Bears draft likely switches from building through the draft to filling immediate needs.   At the top of the list is finding a wide receiver to take advantage of Cutler's strong arm.  They can only hope Hakeem Nicks, Kenny Britt or Brian Robiskie makes it to them in round two (there is a major dropoff after the top seven receivers).  With their third round pick, the Bears will look to fill a need again at safety.  Fortunately for the Bears, safety talent should be plentiful in round three.  After filling these needs, look for them to add depth to the offensive line and add young talent to the defensive front seven.

How the trade impacts the Broncos draft:

After last season, everyone knew the Broncos had to rebuild its defense, now they have the draft picks to do it.  Of course, they created a hole at quarterback in the process.  How well they fill that hole will determine not only whether or not this was a good trade but whether or not Josh McDaniels succeeds as coach of the Broncos. With five picks in the first 84, the Broncos are in a position to be aggressive on draft day.  Speculation has already begun of Denver possibly making a move up to get a quarterback, most likely, Mark Sanchez.  

However, using both first rounders to move up to draft a quarterback would be a major blow to the team's effort to rebuild the defense and find key pieces for the team's conversion to a 3-4 defense.  Despite McDaniels' offensive background, don't be surprised if four of the first five picks are used on the defensive side of the ball if they keep the picks.  If they elect to stick with Orton at quarterback, the odds of taking a running back in rounds one or two would increase as they look to take the pressure off the passing game despite signing Correll Buckhalter and JJ Arrington in free agency.

Players whose draft stock may have increased due to the trade: (Broncos owning 12th and 18th picks)

Mark Sanchez, Tyson Jackson, Rey Maualuga, Everette Brown, Aaron Maybin, Knowshon Moreno, Beanie Wells

Players whose draft stock has fallen a notch due to the trade: (Bears no longer in round one)

One less team is likely to select a wide receiver meaning the odds of Kenny Britt, Hakeem Nicks or Brian Robiskie going in round one went down a notch.  Offensive tackles William Beatty and Eben Britton fall slightly as well.

Chris Maier is senior editor for NFLDraft101.com.  He can be reached at [e-mail]

Stay tuned for NFLDraft101's second annual seven round mock draft.  Coming April 14th.