Believe it: Bears have a Pro Bowl quarterback

At long last, the Bears have a Pro Bowl quarterback.

General manager Jerry Angelo pulled the trigger Thursday afternoon on the Bears' biggest off-season move in recent history, acquiring disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos.

To get Cutler, the Bears gave up their first- and third-round draft picks this year and their first-round pick in 2010, along with quarterback Kyle Orton. The Bears also get Denver's fifth-round pick this year.

Cutler recently requested a trade as the result of what had become irreconcilable differences with new Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels.

"It all came together unexpectedly," Angelo said. "We had plenty of time to think about it, and I came to the conclusion, after talking with (head coach) Lovie (Smith) and (team president and CEO) Ted Phillips, that we needed to pursue this. And, (we said) 'if we get in it, we're getting in it to win it.' "

Cutler was voted to his first Pro Bowl last season, equaling the number of appearances by Bears quarterbacks in the past 44 years.

Angelo has tried a variety of ways to bring a franchise quarterback to Chicago. He drafted Cade McNown and Rex Grossman in the first round, Orton in the fourth round and Craig Krenzel in the fifth round.

He brought in other teams' free agents such as Brian Griese, Chris Chandler and Jonathon Quinn and castoffs such as Kordell Stewart and Chad Hutchinson. None panned out.

But now the Bears have the closest thing to a franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman in the 1940s. The scenario that brought Cutler to the Bears was rare, not only for a Bears franchise perennially beset by quarterback problems but in league annals.

"It's the first time for me," said Angelo, a 30-year veteran of the NFL. "When you just look at the history of the league, I can't recall a situation quite like this. All we did was reacted to a situation we felt would benefit our football team."

A couple of hours later, the Bears got some protection for Cutler when they agreed to terms with 33-year-old, seven-time Pro Bowl offensive left tackle Orlando Pace on a three-year contract.

"I feel like Jerry and those guys are really making big steps," Bears wide receiver Devin Hester said on Sporting News Radio shortly after the trade was announced. "They're going out and doing whatever it takes, and they're shocking me.

"The moves they're making are incredible, and we're striving to be a Super Bowl team."

In Cutler, the Bears get one of the top young quarterbacks in the NFL and one of the strongest arms in the league. But they also get a player who comes with some baggage.

Cutler's petulant behavior in his last weeks in Denver turned off a lot of football purists who wondered why he considered himself above being traded or even having his name mentioned in trade talks.

Cutler essentially forced a trade when he boycotted the Broncos' off-season weightlifting program after finding out that McDaniels had discussed the possibility of trading him to acquire ex-Patriot Matt Cassel without notifying him. Cutler then refused to communicate with either McDaniels or Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, officially requesting a trade through his agent, Bus Cook.

"I don't personally have any concerns with that," Angelo said of Cutler's personality. "We did a lot of work going all the way back to his time at Vanderbilt. We felt that he's a very good person, a good leader.

"He had some things that happened in Denver. We recognize those, but we treated them as just speed bumps, part of the growing process. He's highly competitive; he's highly emotional. That just comes with the territory."

Cutler's production on the field has been prolific, and that made him attractive to at least several NFL teams, including the Bucs, Lions, Jets, Browns, 49ers and Redskins.

Last season Cutler threw for 4,526 yards, trailing only the Arizona Cardinals' Kurt Warner and the New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees. Cutler was seventh in the NFL with 25 touchdown passes, but he also was intercepted 18 times, more than anyone in the NFL except for Brett Favre.

Although he's only 25, Cutler already has started 37 games, including all 16 in each of the past two seasons, compiling a passer rating of 87.1 with 54 TD passes and 37 interceptions.

Orton, 26, has started 33 games, including 15 last season, compiling a career passer rating of 71.1 with 30 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. Interestingly it was Orton's appeal to the Broncos that swung the deal in the Bears' favor, according to Angelo.

Denver's only other quarterbacks under contract - Chris Simms and Darrell Hackney - have thrown a combined total of 2 passes over the previous two seasons.

Cutler grew up as a Bears fan in Santa Claus, Ind., and will be reunited in Chicago with two former Vanderbilt teammates; wide receiver Earl Bennett and offensive tackle Chris Williams.

"He's like everybody, a little bit in shock, excited," Angelo said. "He's a big Bears fan, grew up a Bears fan, and he's excited to be here in Chicago."

In Cutler's senior season at Vanderbilt, Bennett caught 79 passes as a freshman.

"Jay was a great quarterback in college," Williams said last month at the Bears' minicamp. "I enjoyed playing with him, and he threw a lot of touchdowns, so it was fun in college."

Although Cutler could benefit from his previous relationship with Bennett, he will have some adjustments to make. Last season he threw to Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, possibly the NFL's best young wide-receiver tandem. They combined for 195 receptions and 2,245 receiving yards last season.

That won't be the case with the Bears. Aside from Hester, who caught 51 passes last season for a team-best 665 yards, the Bears are short on talent. Last year the combined total of the five other wide receivers currently on the Bears' roster - John Broussard, Devin Aromashodu, Davis, Brandon Rideau and Bennett - was 35 catches and 445 yards, all by Davis.

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