And the winner is...

Well, I guess it doesn’t make too much sense. Wednesday, I came close to pegging the Cutler trade, writing that Orton and either the 18th pick or Tommy Harris would make too much sense and therefore destined not to happen. (I wrote the article before the Broncos “informed all interested teams that they want at least two first-round picks for Cutler and getting a quarterback in exchange is not a necessity.”)

Apparently, Pat Bowlen and Co. are readers of the The Sports Pad and decided to trade Cutler and a 2009 5th-round pick for Orton, a 2009 1st-round pick, a 2009 3rd-round pick and a 2010 1st-round pick.

So who is the big winner? Well, in order to pick a winner you first have to see where each team is at.

Denver Broncos

Josh McDaniels welcome to the hot seat, how does it feel? You’ve essentially erased any and all goodwill, by participating in a public feud with your teams most loved player, forcing him out and in return you get a bunch of draft picks and a part time QB.

Here’s the upside, though, you have eleven picks in the ’09 draft to do exactly what you have wanted to do since begin hired: bring in your type of players.

Offensively, you have a young, solid OL, talented skill players in Marshall (if he can stay out of trouble), Royal and Scheffler, and a carousel of RBs for any situation a la the Patriots. Orton can fill in (he isn’t the long term replacement), run the offense, make safe plays and try to limit turnovers, all things that he has done before. Now on defensive, that’s a whole different ball game.

Defensively, switching to a 3-4 is going to pose a lot of problems for McDaniels. The front seven is weak and doesn’t have the personnel to make the switch. Dumervil is going to have to switch from DE to OLB because of his size (he's listed at 5’11”). DE's Moss, McBean and Crowder fit the dimensions of a 3-4 DE, but they might not have the strength to hold up at the point of attack. Marcus Thomas and Ronnie Fields are the keys to the DL’s success. The LB’s are in trouble too. D.J. Williams may have to move inside, because he doesn’t have the size to play outside in a 3-4, which poses another problem because he’ll have to work in space and shed OGs. Andra Davis was brought in to play the other ILB, which will help the transition. OLB Bailey simply does not have the size to play the position.

With picks at 12, 18, 48, 79 and 84 (all in the first 3 rounds) McDaniels has a chance to bring in a lot of talented players, who can all vie for a starting spot. They should address DE, DT and ILB early within those five picks. I don’t see them moving up to get one of the top defensive players; I see them hanging back and grabbing whoever falls to them at 12 and then picking accordingly from there on out. One of the BJ Raji (DT), Aaron Maybin (DE/OLB), Everette Brown (DE/OLB) trio will fall to Denver, but it’ll be interesting to see if QB Mark Sanchez is available at 12, McDaniels might be tempted to pick him. At 18, I like the possibilities of Jarron Gilbert (DE/DT) and Rey Maualuga (ILB). If Denver can get 2 of those 5 standout defensive players it’ll go a long way in easing the pain of losing Cutler.

Chicago Bears

The Bears gave up a ton in order to get Cutler, but they got a lot in return. QB is the hardest position in football to evaluate and one of the hardest positions to fill. One could argue that the Bears have already wasted two first round picks, in the last 10 years, on QBs (McNown and Grossman) and that to get a QB, that could start for the next 10 years, would be worth the picks.

The situation won’t be easy for Cutler though. He is going to have to rebuild his image, in a town that does not accept crybabies or prima donnas. Not to mention, the Bears offense has as many holes as the Broncos defense.

The Bears OL is porous. The Pace signing is a stopgap measure, but still an upgrade when he is healthy. This also means Chris Williams is likely moving to RT. The interior line is OK, Garza and Kreutz are solid but they’re getting up there in years and they desperately need to fill the LG spot.

The wide receiver corp starts a return man (Hester) posing as a wideout and that is pretty much it. There are some players at TE (Olsen and Clark), but the teams best offensive player is Matt Forte. Forte led the team in rushing yards (1,238) and receptions (63); he’ll be the key to Cutler’s success in Chicago. If the offense can continue to lean on Forte and keep the team in “second ‘n’ mediums” and “third ‘n’ shorts” Cutler will play well and most importantly they’ll win.

Now the loss of three picks will hurt, the Bears really need to address the WR, DE and CB positions. They only have two first day picks (49 and 99) so grabbing an instant starter will be tough. With their first pick, look for the Bears to go after either WRs Kenny Britt (Rutgers), Brian Robiskie (Ohio St.) or DEs Paul Kruger (Utah), Lawrence Sidbury (Richmond). However whomever, they get with that pick he needs to be a contributer immediately.

And the winner is...

The Chicago Bears! Anytime, you can get a franchise QB, you have to make a play for him. Bottom line! The Bears took a big risk, but they’ve solidified a position with a Pro-Bowl caliber player for potentially the next decade. The Bears have been plagued by the QB position and Cutler becomes the best Bears QB since Jim McMahon (I could argue Sid Luckman but I’ll spare you).

The Bears were 9-7 last season and with the combo of Cutler, Forte and Olsen the Bears could go 10-6, maybe 11-5, but clinching the NFC North (they go 5-1 or 6-0, the North is that bad) and make the playoffs.

Denver doesn’t make the playoffs next year, they just don't. The AFC West is much improved and McDaniels HAS to have a .500 record otherwise the Denver fans will be calling for his head. So, that leaves the Bears as the winner.