Bears

OTD in 2009: A Franchise-Altering Chicago Bears Trade

On this day in 2009, the Bears traded for Jay Cutler. 13 years later, we revisit that swap and how it played out.

by
Aalap Desai
April 2, 2022

Jay Cutler Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields Comments

Photo: Nam Y. Huh/AP

Thirteen years ago today, the Chicago Bears made a franchise-altering move that occurred at arguably the most important position in sports. It was a trade that changed the course of the organization, for better or worse. Thursday, April 2, 2009 was a cool, overcast early spring day for Chicago standards. This was a time when Twitter was in its infancy stages, a far cry from the huge news-breaking source we all know and love today. Early in the afternoon, then-Bears general manager Jerry Angelo finalized a trade to acquire quarterback Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos. As Bears fans ingested the news, excitement filled the air in the Windy City.

The Trade

Once the dust settled and the hoopla ceased, these were the final terms of the exchange between the two teams.

Bears Receive:

Quarterback Jay Cutler
2009 fifth-round pick (140th overall)

Broncos Receive:

Quarterback Kyle Orton
2009 first-round pick (18th overall)
2009 third-round pick (84th overall)
2010 first-round pick (11th overall)

Acquiring a QB of Cutler’s caliber in exchange for the package outlined above would be considered a “steal” nowadays due to what teams are willing to give up for such a player in the modern NFL climate. How those draft picks panned out is hindsight. In fact, the Bears used the acquired fifth-round pick to draft Johnny Knox.

Lead-Up To The Trade

Denver had just parted ways with Mike Shanahan, whom Jay Cutler was a huge fan of. However, the Broncos replaced the legendary coach with ex-Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The new guy on the scene tried to acquire Patriots backup QB Matt Cassel in a trade, which Cutler found out about. This led to Cutler demanding a trade and putting his house up for sale.

On the flip side, the Bears had just finished the 2008 season with a 9-7 record, missing the playoffs by one game. Chicago could have clinched a spot in the postseason by beating Houston Texans in Week 17. Then-Bears QB Kyle Orton had a decent game, going 22-of-37 for 244 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. However, falling short of the playoffs spurred Angelo to aggressively address the QB position, to no fault of Orton’s.

The Jay Cutler Era

The Jay Cutler era didn’t turn out as Chicago Bears fans hoped. Cutler spent eight seasons with the Bears, compiling a .500 record of 51-51. His tenure produced one playoff appearance in 2010, during which the team went 1-1. In total, Cutler posted a 61.8 completion percentage and threw for 23,443 yards, 154 touchdowns, and 108 interceptions.

But Cutler managed to play all 16 games just once in those eight years as he suffered from nagging ailments throughout his Bears career. His best years came between 2010 and 2013, but the Bears often fell short of their playoff aspirations for various reasons.

Passing Table
Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	1D	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	QBR	Sk	Yds	Sk%	NY/A	ANY/A	4QC	GWD	AV	Awards
2006	23	DEN	qb	6	5	5	2-3-0	81	137	59.1	1001	9	6.6	5	3.6	49	71	7.3	7.0	12.4	200.2	88.5	41.9	13	85	8.7	6.11	5.81			3
2007	24	DEN	QB	6	16	16	7-9-0	297	467	63.6	3497	20	4.3	14	3	174	68	7.5	7.0	11.8	218.6	88.1	64.3	27	153	5.5	6.77	6.30	2	3	12
2008*	25	DEN	QB	6	16	16	8-8-0	384	616	62.3	4526	25	4.1	18	2.9	223	93	7.3	6.8	11.8	282.9	86.0	61.9	11	69	1.8	7.11	6.61	3	4	15	PB
2009	26	CHI	QB	6	16	16	7-9-0	336	555	60.5	3666	27	4.9	26	4.7	169	71	6.6	5.5	10.9	229.1	76.8	49.9	35	204	5.9	5.87	4.80	2	4	10
2010	27	CHI	QB	6	15	15	10-5-0	261	432	60.4	3274	23	5.3	16	3.7	159	89	7.6	7.0	12.5	218.3	86.3	51.4	52	352	10.7	6.04	5.50	4	4	12
2011	28	CHI	QB	6	10	10	7-3-0	182	314	58	2319	13	4.1	7	2.2	107	56	7.4	7.2	12.7	231.9	85.7	60.5	23	159	6.8	6.41	6.25	1	1	7
2012	29	CHI	QB	6	15	15	10-5-0	255	434	58.8	3033	19	4.4	14	3.2	152	60	7.0	6.4	11.9	202.2	81.3	48.1	38	250	8.1	5.90	5.37	1	1	11
2013	30	CHI	QB	6	11	11	5-6-0	224	355	63.1	2621	19	5.4	12	3.4	125	67	7.4	6.9	11.7	238.3	89.2	70.1	19	132	5.1	6.66	6.23	3	3	9
2014	31	CHI	QB	6	15	15	5-10-0	370	561	66	3812	28	5	18	3.2	181	74	6.8	6.3	10.3	254.1	88.6	51.8	38	223	6.3	5.99	5.57	1	1	11
2015	32	CHI	QB	6	15	15	6-9-0	311	483	64.4	3659	21	4.3	11	2.3	173	87	7.6	7.4	11.8	243.9	92.3	61.0	29	150	5.7	6.85	6.71	4	4	11
2016	33	CHI	qb	6	5	5	1-4-0	81	137	59.1	1059	4	2.9	5	3.6	45	54	7.7	6.7	13.1	211.8	78.1	28.1	17	104	11	6.20	5.26			2
2017	34	MIA	QB	6	14	14	6-8-0	266	429	62	2666	19	4.4	14	3.3	138	65	6.2	5.6	10.0	190.4	80.8	43.5	20	154	4.5	5.59	5.04	2	3	6
Career					153	153	74-79-0	3048	4920	62	35133	227	4.6	160	3.3	1695	93	7.1	6.6	11.5	229.6	85.3		322	2035	6.1	6.31	5.81	23	28	109
8 yrs		CHI			102	102	51-51-0	2020	3271	61.8	23443	154	4.7	109	3.3	1111	89	7.2	6.6	11.6	229.8	85.2		251	1574	7.1	6.21	5.69	16	18	73
3 yrs		DEN			37	37	17-20-0	762	1220	62.5	9024	54	4.4	37	3	446	93	7.4	6.9	11.8	243.9	87.1		51	307	4	6.86	6.40	5	7	30
1 yr		MIA			14	14	6-8-0	266	429	62	2666	19	4.4	14	3.3	138	65	6.2	5.6	10.0	190.4	80.8		20	154	4.5	5.59	5.04	2	3	6

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/2/2022.

Polarizing Figure

It’s no secret that Jay Cutler was a polarizing figure in Chicago. Fair or not, fans and media often criticized him for his attitude and body language. Cutler was not for everyone. He was truly a “you hate him or you love him” type of player. There were fans who gave up on him fairly quickly. Then, there were those — like myself — who defended him until the very end. Those opposing viewpoints left the fan base divided for most of his time here.

Just as well, some of Cutler’s teammates didn’t think of him as a leader or a friend. Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Matt Forte, etc. instantly come to mind. But there were others who went to bat for him, such as Kyle Long, Greg Olsen, Brandon Marshall (for a while), etc. Again, polarizing.

However, Cutler managed to stabilize the Bears’ QB position for eight years. The organization and fans knew who the starting QB was that window, something that had been lacking for quite some time in Chicago.

Cutler’s time with the Bears was truly a roller coaster ride for the ages. He often dazzled with his brilliance and athleticism as well as his arm talent. That taste of playmaking ability left fans desiring more. But his style came with the spurts of head-scratching decision-making and plays.

Overall, Cutler was a super talented QB with his intelligence, arm strength, and athleticism. Unfortunately, it never fully came together for him, which was truly the most frustrating part of his tenure. Through it all, nobody can question his toughness. Week in and week out, he showed up, put his body on the line, and took a beating.

Revolving Door of Coaches

During his time with the Bears, Jay Cutler never truly settled in. In those eight years, he had three different head coaches:

Lovie Smith (2009-2012)
Marc Trestman (2013-2014)
John Fox (2015-2016)

As well as a revolving door of offensive coordinators:

Ron Turner (2009)
Mike Martz (2010-2011)
Mike Tice (2012)
Aaron Kromer (2013-2014)
Adam Gase (2015)
Dowell Loggains (2016)

It’s fair to question whether Cutler had a role in the everchanging of the guard at OC. But on the flip side, it’s also equally mind-numbing to consider how many times he had a new coach in his ear. Imagine having to work with a new supervisor every year or two at your place of work. The revolving door of OCs certainly did not hamper his development, but by no means did it do him any favors. Add shoddy offensive line play and lackluster playmakers (at times) into the mix, and it’s not a mystery why Cutler’s Bears tenure played out as it did.

Overall

All in all, the Jay Cutler era didn’t yield the desired results, which would have included more playoff appearances and a Super Bowl. However, not many QBs in recent times have done that.

Overall, it was a tumultuous eight years consisting of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Cutler provided flashes of “awesome” with quite a few memorable moments. But plenty of drama and letdowns accompanied the highs, of course. It is what it is.

Like him or not, he did hold down the Chicago Bears’ QB position for eight years, providing a sense of stability the organization needed at the time. In retrospect, trading for Jay Cutler was worth the gamble that Jerry Angelo took back on April 2, 2009.

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗

Bears acquired Jay Cutler for Kyle Orton, two first round picks & a third. He threw 154 touchdowns in Chicago.

What’s your favorite Jay memory?pic.twitter.com/a4dHjZZXFu
— This Day in Chicago Sports (@ChiSportsDay) April 2, 2022

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Aalap Desai

Writer/contributor for On Tap Sports Net and Bears on Tap. Lifelong and a die-hard fan of the Bears, Cubs, Bulls, and Blackhawks. Nothing but respect the White Sox though. Enjoying life and having a good time. Interests also include eating, gaming, sometimes reading and tons of tomfoolery. Good sense of humor (although sometimes dry). Occasionally witty. Follow me on Twitter

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Ted O'Connell

4 months ago

At the time, I was all in on the Cutler trade. Looking back, I really wonder if we would have been better off drafting defensive players, especially a safety. Does anyone have the info or brain capacity to figure out what kind of players we could have drafted? Orton was actually in his prime. He had some good years in Denver. Not so long ago, you could win with defense and a competent QB.