they need a veteran wr not named marty booker. there's no reason why they couldnt sign him for no more than a 2 year deal. just something to let the other wr's, sparse as they are, develop

d is suspect. im interested to see what marinelli does

Here's the Cutler trade breakdown, complete with lazy non-Bears fan misspellings:

Urlacher will not be as good/possibly cut in 2 years (when he's 32). Same with Mike Brown(33), Ogunleye(33), Tillman (30), and the bulk of their defensive leaders. Offensive Linemen can still be effective when a bit older than 30 older (see Kreutz, Tate, the newly-signed Pace, and possibly Garza), but the Bears, even with the lack of a #1 receiver, have an incumbent Coach/GM tandem, and are built for the near-future. They needed a new QB (and to do so while MIN/DET are especially thin at that the position) to have any championship aspirations...

DEN had not-a-great-record this year. That being said, they play in possibly the weakest division in the NFL - it's relatively easy to get a Wild-Card berth when you play KC & OAK for 4 wins a year, and the inconsistent Chargers could make for an 1-1 push... New Coach + a lot of good players (Marshall at WR, the still-superhuman Bailey and Bly at CB, the emerging Bailey at LB, plus an insane blocking group at OL and a deceptively-penetrating group of DL's, and no more super contracts (besides the earning-his-keep Champ).

Let's say you have a clean slate as a coach, and are offered this trade as you're percieved to be in "rebuilding" mode:

A young (25) plus NFL QB (fringe 10) plus an extra 5th round pick you had for this year

for

A solid yet unspectacular QB who can start and/or compete for 2 seasons and make your team competitive in a weak division,

Pick # 18 in this years' draft (which could allow you to take a top 3 QB Prospect with either this pick or your #12 pick - Sanchez or Freeman - or else get 2 starters on either side of the ball)

A 3rd round pick (Special Teams stud and/or another developing starter for either side of the ball)

...and an extra 1st round pick for next year - possibly lower than 20 but, in the NFL, that's still a non-"essential" starter on either side of the field.


So, if you're team's getting old, you take the possible-franchise QB who is still a bit of a project, even if everything'll blow up in a few years, as that's a few years of job security and/or makes you a Championship contender....

...Yet, if you're a new coach, who can just-about break even in a weak division and buy yourself a year 2, you can deal a Pro Bowl (yet disgruntled) QB for a decent starting QB and 2 first rounders (3 very high draft picks overall) over the next 2 years to shape a not-that-old roster to your liking...

As for myself, in an overall-franchise point of view, I'd take Sir Neckbeard plus the 2 first round picks but, then again, I haven't been in charge of non-succeeding teams the past few years, and have little chance of being fired for making these judgments with negative money for a franchise involved.

So, Robotboy, same quote 2 years later? Go for it...

I'd say this makes the Bears the favorite in the North and will make the Bears/Packers rivalry much more intriguing.

If a Bears game was on in the past, I would not even bother to watch, but now I'll watch a Bears game with some interest.

i have to tell you, and i believe it would be impossible for me to care any less about that division and therefore be any more objective, that the packers are still a better team than the bears. overall it makes things more interesting but i don't think it changes things drastically enough to call the bears favorites.

I'd like to agree with you, but as a pessimistic Packer fan, I think our defense has a lot to prove.

I think Cutler, however big of a baby he may be, is still a difference maker.

No matter how good Cutler has been, he's with the Bears now.
Time for him to break a knee or elbow or something.

so what exactly are you trying to get at? that i think the bears will have a better offense than last year? yeah i think thats a no brainer

Haha

Also, how many months will it take of bratwurst eating in Chicago before he sprouts a third chin?

He played a part in those loses. Ever since he took over the team from Jake Plummer they've been steadily worse. It isn't anywhere near all his fault. He did however took over a team that was in the AFC conference championship the year before.

Last year in Denvers 8 loses he threw 13 picks.
In the teams 8 wins he threw 5 picks.
Again that doesn't mean it was all his fault (you take more risks if you're down, etc.) but it's interesting.

The Broncos were a career .500 when he threw for 300+ yds. Him doing well didn't mean the team won.

when your defense is ranked 29th in the league, youre going to be winging it all over the field to get quick yards/scores, which increases the INT %. pretty much what you just said but all i'm saying is that you put him on a team where the defense isnt making you play catchup all the time and good things happen

i saw the gaslight anthem last night and even their singer was talking about cutler between songs. i can't get away from this coverage...

I understand that but it seems that he's garbage when his team is down by more than a touchdown. Maybe that'll never be an issue with the Bears D. Going from the 29th ranked D to a middle of the pack Bears defense may be enough but i doubt it.