The Broncos on Thursday traded their disgruntled Pro Bowl passer to the Bears, who’ve gone through a bevy of quarterbacks without much success ever since Jim McMahon finished calling plays in the 1980s.
The Broncos get quarterback Kyle Orton in return, along with two first-round draft picks and a third-rounder.
The Broncos get the Bears’ top pick in this year’s draft, which is No. 18 overall, and Chicago’s first-round draft pick in 2010, along with a third-round selection this year (No. 84 overall). Denver gave up a fifth-rounder this year.
Calls to Cutler’s agent, Bus Cook, went unanswered. His office in Hattiesberg, Miss., was closed because of bad weather and his home phone had a message asking callers to call back later. An e-mail sent by The wasn’t returned.
Cutler asked for a trade last month after his relationship with Josh McDaniels soured when the new 32-year-old coach talked to other teams about trading him. Cutler and his agent didn’t think McDaniels was up front with them about the trade talks.
Two meetings designed to clear the air only raised Cutler’s level of distrust. Still, McDaniels insisted over and over that Cutler was his guy and he said at last week’s NFL owners meetings that he would do everything he could to repair their relationship.
When the rocket-armed but thin-skinned passer didn’t return the Broncos’ phone calls, however, team owner Pat Bowlen said enough was enough. Tuesday night, he announced he had given his new brain trust of McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders the go-ahead to seek a trade for the quarterback who made the Pro Bowl in just his second season as a starter.
“I don’t have any concerns,” Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said. “(Coach Lovie Smith) and I talked about that. We did, like a lot of people who were interested in Jay, a lot of work going back to not just when he was with Denver but going back to his days at Vanderbilt.”
Cutler is 17-20 as a starter. Last year, he threw for a franchise-record 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. In his 37-game career in Denver, he completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 9,024 yards, 54 TDs and 37 interceptions.
