NFL 2009

[Sir Purr]

They have Kyle Orton who I may be the only one who feels this way, but was extremely impressive before he went down with the injury. He was safe with the ball, had a 90.0 rating ... so they decide to get Jay Cutler.

Plus, why do they need a pro bowl QB anyway? They have Matt Forte and are not a passing team. Throw in the fact they NEED those two first rounders first, I don't know, maybe for a better offensive line and secondary?

Edited April 2, 2009 by Sir Purr

[Meacon Keaton]

I have to admit, though I would have loved to still have Cutler, that's not too bad of a trade. I really wish Cutler had just stayed, but he wanted out. I would never have guessed we'd get two first rounders, a third rounder, and neckbeard for him. Use Orton for a couple years, use the extra picks on defense and we may not be as bad off as expected.

[Cactus Drags]

They have Kyle Orton who I may be the only one who feels this way, but was extremely impressive before he went down with the injury. He was safe with the ball, had a 90.0 rating ... so they decide to get Jay Cutler.

Plus, why do they need a pro bowl QB anyway? They have Matt Forte and are not a passing team. Throw in the fact they NEED those two first rounders first, I don't know, maybe for a better offensive line and secondary?

Jerry Angelo has always done well drafting in the later rounds, our first rounders have typically been shite (see Benson, Cedric). Plus the McCaskeys hate spending money. And you can't run one player into the ground and call it an offense, if there's no passing threat, you'll end up running against 8 or 9 men in the box and that's not going to get you very far. I've been a supporter of Orton since forever, and it's a shame his career at Chicago is coming to an end, but I'm sure he'll do well in Denver. And you can't honestly say that Cutler isn't an upgrade. I and many Bears fans are always lamenting the fact that the front office and coaching staff gloss over their issues and don't do enough to fix them, so I can't exactly go and complain when they go and do that, even if receiver's probably a bigger need rigt now.

[DMN in the House]

Raiders... AFC West Champions?

ITS ALL COMING TOGETHER, PEOPLE!

[Cactus Drags]

Nah, Broncos.

[DMN in the House]

With that defense, not even the great Cap'n Neckbeard can drunkenly lead them to victory.

In all honesty, I'm (once again ) predicting Oakland to win 8, which I'll be happy with. I fully expect them to finish second in the division if they do, with San Diego winning it, if Merriman is healthy.

Oh, and I do like Orton, but he's not better than Cutler, and Denver is actually a lot worse than they look. Dawkins was a nice pick-up, but he's not going to save that defense, and I have a wait and see attitude on their running game next year with Shanahan gone.

[gunnar hendershow]

This deal was important for the Bears as much because it kept Cutler out of Minnesota. They get an upgrade at QB, lose some first round picks (which saves them cap room, and they're one of the best teams at finding hidden gems) and Denver has an at the least reliable starter and gets some first round picks to help patch their defense quickly.

The winners? Oakland Raiders.

[JStarr]

Denver'll be lucky if they find any RB's suicidal enough to play there after last year's parade of tears, breaks, and ruptures.

All this said, if McDipshit can actually get the offense together around him, Orton's numbers shouldn't drop much at all. He'll still have Royal and Scheffler to throw to, even after Marshall begins the year on suspension again.

As for the Bears...their draft list now needs to consist of WR-WR-WR with a side of OT, otherwise Cutler's liable to complain that he's expected to throw the ball to himself. He might make Greg Olsen a superstar, though.

[Meacon Keaton]

Jay Cutler's new best friend, Orlando Pace, has signed with the Bears.

[Sir Purr]

They have Kyle Orton who I may be the only one who feels this way, but was extremely impressive before he went down with the injury. He was safe with the ball, had a 90.0 rating ... so they decide to get Jay Cutler.

Plus, why do they need a pro bowl QB anyway? They have Matt Forte and are not a passing team. Throw in the fact they NEED those two first rounders first, I don't know, maybe for a better offensive line and secondary?

Jerry Angelo has always done well drafting in the later rounds, our first rounders have typically been shite (see Benson, Cedric). Plus the McCaskeys hate spending money. And you can't run one player into the ground and call it an offense, if there's no passing threat, you'll end up running against 8 or 9 men in the box and that's not going to get you very far. I've been a supporter of Orton since forever, and it's a shame his career at Chicago is coming to an end, but I'm sure he'll do well in Denver. And you can't honestly say that Cutler isn't an upgrade. I and many Bears fans are always lamenting the fact that the front office and coaching staff gloss over their issues and don't do enough to fix them, so I can't exactly go and complain when they go and do that, even if receiver's probably a bigger need rigt now.

Cutler is an upgrade, I'll agree. I think he has the potential to be a franchise QB. But a QB who was second in interceptions last year now being stuck on a team with no credible WR isn't going to improve his interception rate, especially now that he'll have to face secondaries like the Packers. The only improvement I see in this is possibly now having a QB who can stretch the field, but the negatives outweigh the positives.

[Lowerdeck]

I fail to see how Oakland is ahead of San Diego.

That division is pure shit though, first to eight takes it. Maybe seven.

[GhostMachine]

Yes, Cutler is an upgrade. But I think they paid too high a price for him; the third round pick should have been contingent on how Cutler performs with the Bears. I don't think the two 1st round picks were too much, simply because the Bears seem to do better with the second round picks than they do with their first.

The Bears are my second favorite NFC team (after the Cowboys, my favorite team period), but I sort of wish the Lions had managed to pull off a deal for Cutler.

Has there been any word on whether or not any team has been nuts enough to consider signing Rex Grossman yet? (Sadly, my dream of him going to Washington probably won't happen)

[alldaws1]

As for the Bears...their draft list now needs to consist of WR-WR-WR with a side of OT, otherwise Cutler's liable to complain that he's expected to throw the ball to himself. He might make Greg Olsen a superstar, though.

OT is way down on the list of priorities now they have a healthy Chris Williams and Orlando Pace. Receiver is a need, though.

Cutler is an upgrade, I'll agree. I think he has the potential to be a franchise QB. But a QB who was second in interceptions last year now being stuck on a team with no credible WR isn't going to improve his interception rate, especially now that he'll have to face secondaries like the Packers. The only improvement I see in this is possibly now having a QB who can stretch the field, but the negatives outweigh the positives.

You know what will help his interception rate? Matt Forte. The Bears can run the ball very effectively and he's also a serious threat to catch the ball out of the backfield. Not to mention they have one of the better TE combos in the league. Receiver is an obvious need but I don't agree that the negatives far outweigh the positives.

[Cactus Drags]

They have Kyle Orton who I may be the only one who feels this way, but was extremely impressive before he went down with the injury. He was safe with the ball, had a 90.0 rating ... so they decide to get Jay Cutler.

Plus, why do they need a pro bowl QB anyway? They have Matt Forte and are not a passing team. Throw in the fact they NEED those two first rounders first, I don't know, maybe for a better offensive line and secondary?

Jerry Angelo has always done well drafting in the later rounds, our first rounders have typically been shite (see Benson, Cedric). Plus the McCaskeys hate spending money. And you can't run one player into the ground and call it an offense, if there's no passing threat, you'll end up running against 8 or 9 men in the box and that's not going to get you very far. I've been a supporter of Orton since forever, and it's a shame his career at Chicago is coming to an end, but I'm sure he'll do well in Denver. And you can't honestly say that Cutler isn't an upgrade. I and many Bears fans are always lamenting the fact that the front office and coaching staff gloss over their issues and don't do enough to fix them, so I can't exactly go and complain when they go and do that, even if receiver's probably a bigger need rigt now.

Cutler is an upgrade, I'll agree. I think he has the potential to be a franchise QB. But a QB who was second in interceptions last year now being stuck on a team with no credible WR isn't going to improve his interception rate, especially now that he'll have to face secondaries like the Packers. The only improvement I see in this is possibly now having a QB who can stretch the field, but the negatives outweigh the positives.

You're saying that like the offseason is over and it's time to play. Admittdly, I'm utterly amazed that Chicago actually identified a need and aggressively went about addressing it (although I'd have preferred them to sort out the receiving corps, I'm not going to complain when the only high-profile receiver akin to Cutler was chemistry cancer TO). So I would not be surprised if the front office sat back and went "That'll appease the little bastards for a year, let's go for a pint". But it's entirely possible that if they realise the QB position needed help, there's going to be work to do with the receivers. TEs and the backfield are sorted, so the draft I would expect to be receiver-centric, with possible helpings of DE and Safeties, maybe a corner. I guess you suggested OT before the signing of Pace.

Speaking of which, I'm not as high on that signing, he's been riddled with injury the past couple of years, and from what I've read, he's on the downward slope in terms of productivity. I'd have thought a one year deal would have been smarter.

But yeah, my point is that there's still time to sort the receiving corps out, and hopefully knowing that Cutler's somewhat of a crybaby, they'll work hard to keep him happy with some new toys to throw to. And don't discount Devin Hester's development. Rashied Davis was solid last year too, although I was looking forward to seeing his rapport with Neckbeard develop

[JStarr]

As for the Bears...their draft list now needs to consist of WR-WR-WR with a side of OT, otherwise Cutler's liable to complain that he's expected to throw the ball to himself. He might make Greg Olsen a superstar, though.

OT is way down on the list of priorities now they have a healthy Chris Williams and Orlando Pace. Receiver is a need, though.

Not sure it'd be smart of them to completely ignore the position, since Pace isn't exactly a long-term solution and Williams still hasn't played. That said, they do have only so many slots they can help after giving up all the picks.

[VerbalPuke]

Personally, I'd have been happy if the Lions paid the same price as the Bears, the only problem is that we probably didn't have any decent QB's to send them like the Bears did with Orton. It sucks that he had to go to Chicago, but oh well, I'm used to the Lions getting shredded by mediocre QB's, so why not a good one this time.

At the same time, I'm also fine with us just keeping all of our draft picks and filling in the numerous holes the team has. I'm still undecided on what I want them to do with the 1st overall pick, first I wanted Curry, then I decided it'd be best to go for the kid from Baylor, but now I'm starting to think Stafford isn't such a bad idea. My concern with going QB is due to the Lions past history with drafting QB's. Chuck Long, Andre Ware, Joey Harrington, and Drew Stanton didn't exactly do much to turn the franchise around. I'm not trying to compare Stafford to those guys, but it's still the kind of thing you worry about as a Lions fan.

Edit - Ok, I just realized that the Bears sent a first this year and next year? Maybe I wouldn't have been as keen on making that deal then.

Edited April 3, 2009 by VerbalPuke

[DMN in the House]

I fail to see how Oakland is ahead of San Diego.

That division is pure shit though, first to eight takes it. Maybe seven.

Never claimed they were, but if San Diego plays similar to last year, its not out of the realm of possibility. They've got about equal talent on both teams, it all depends on if Tom Cable is better than Norv Turner. I think Oakland can win 8, and if they do, they'll finish second in the division. I expect SD to win 9 or 10.

[Evil Chase K]

There were two teams in the NFC North that could have made the deal that the Bears made and got away with it.

Neither of them was the Chicago Bears.

Minnesota is essentially a QB away from being a top tier NFC team. And the Lions could've traded their 2nd 1st round pick to the Broncos, taken their franchise left tackle and also had Cutler.

Cutler + Calvin Johnson + Franchsie LT + that running back guy = A much improved Lions team.

That said I think Denver got one HELL of a deal. They send away their crybaby bitch QB and get a chance to completely turnaround their pitiful defense in 2 years with 4 first round picks.

Kyle Orton is the anti-Cutler. He might not put up big numbers but he's a warrior. His teammates love him and will go to war for him. I doubt we'll see the same kind of admiration of Cutler from Bears players.

Also, one thing you can't forget is that last season Cutler was the least hit QB in the NFL. He was able to sit in the pocket and throw. He won't have that luxury this season. And he won't have the weapons he did in Denver either.

I'm not saying Kyle Orton's a more talented QB. But he's a better leader and behind that line, with those weapons. If they get any kind of defense Denver could surprise some people.

I think Chicago is still battling Minnesota for 2nd place even with Cutler.

Denver wins this deal. Big time.

[naiwf]

Even if the four picks turn Denver's defense into a great one, you're still stuck with a subpar QB which is the same situation that Orton came from a few years earlier. I think this is the rare lateral move trade where one team gave up a shitload for a player who can't help as much as the pieces they gave up in the short term and the other team gave away the hardest piece to get in order to build for the long term. I don't really care for either team, so I'm fine with this deal.

[Evil Chase K]

If Matt Cassel can thrive in Josh McDaniels' system, so can Kyle Orton. Orton was a system QB at Purdue.

But I would believe that McDaniels and company would be looking to take a QB at some point in the draft. Perhaps the 1st round, maybe later.

McDaniels, as we all know, came from New England. I think he would know a thing or two about drafting QB talent late in the draft.