Yesterday was a fantastic day in key West, topped off by a great dinner on Florida Bay at the Islamorada Fish Company and a cold Key West Sunset Ale appropriately at sunset. The only bad part of the day came when we got back to the hotel and I found out that Kyle Orton had been traded to petulant child Jay Cutler and some draft picks.
The impatience that teams show with NFL quarterbacks is incredibly frustrating. No NFL quarterback is worth much of anything until at least their third full season unless they are truly special. Last year was Kyle's fourth season, and low and behold he finally started to play much better. The Bears didn't give him a ton of receiving options, but he still had a decent year and was better than many other quarterbacks int he league. Cutler choked away an almost sure playoff berth by losing his last three games, and has cried all offseason like a kid that had his Big Wheel taken away.
Denver got a first round pick in the deal, so of course there is already speculation that Kyle is just a placeholder for whomever they draft in that spot. Well, Drew Brees was just a placeholder until Phillip Rivers became the next great NFL QB, and look what happened. The last time I checked, the point of being a starting quarterback was to win games. Kyle hasn't put up great numbers in his career, but he has won games. He has actually made it to the playoffs too. This is something the great Jay Cutler can't say he has done. Jay Cutler is far from something special with his attitude and on the field performance. Denver got the better of this deal because htey now have a quarterback that won't piss and moan if his feeling are hurt. Kyle has faced that his entire career so far, so it is my hope that he sticks it to everyone Drew Brees style this coming season.