Bears Land Cutler

Jay Cutler has finally been traded. And the Windy City is Cutler's new home.

From Chicago Sun-Times Reporter Mike Mulligan:

"The Bears acquired quarterback Jay Cutler today for No. 1 draft picks in 2009 and 2010, a No. 3 pick this year and Kyle Orton, the Sun-Times has learned. The Bears receive the Broncos' fifth-round draft pick this year.

Cutler, 25, is coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Broncos, but he became disgruntled and wanted a trade after learning Denver was considering a deal for quarterback Matt Cassel."

This is a shocking move considering the history of the Bears organization. They never trade for big named players, and more specifically they never go after talented quarterbacks. Now they have both. You know I'm a Bears fan, so I'm thrilled to see this. But still, a shocking development.

Finally, a quarterback for the Bears, for the first time since Sid Luckman.

April Fool's Day

Where exactly this "holiday" came from, I have no flipping clue. It's hopelessly stupid, and every year, without fail, I'll come across someone that tries to pull some sort of poorly conceived prank or joke.

Now, I know that the first of April isn't much to celebrate, but, in honor of the big day, I present to you a few things in the sports world that, if you heard them, you would almost certainly be waiting for a loud, "APRIL FOOLS!"

New York Yankees Front Office: In light of the recent economic downturn, we've decided to scale back ticket prices. Tickets that originally cost nearly $2600 will now cost approximately $100 dollars. In fact, even when the economy rebounds, these more realistic prices will remain.

Gary Sheffield: All I want is for the team to get better. If that means me losing at-bats so that some of the young guys on this team can develop, I'm all for it. Honestly, I don't care if I ever get to 500 home runs. Winning comes first for me.

Barry Bonds: Alright, alright. You caught me. I did it. I took steroids. Phew, that feels like a load off, you know? Why I thought this whole aloof, tough guy thing would play well in the media, I have no idea. Can I just get back to playing the game I love so much now?

Gary Bettman: We really don't feel as if the strike hurt our league that much. In fact, we think we've come back stronger. More people that watch Versus on a nightly basis watch our sport than any other sport.

Shaquille O'Neal: From now on, I promise not to make mountains out of molehills, flop, or do anything else to stir the pot unnecessarily to bring my name back into the headlines. I will simply let the fact that I'm still playing at a high level (actually, true) speak for itself, and hope that does enough.

Albert Haynesworth: Yes, 100 million dollars for a defensive tackle is a bit steep. OK, it's down right ridiculous. Especially when you consider I've only really tried hard the last two years.

Jay Cutler: Josh, my bad. I've acted a little immature. Truth is, I can kind of understand the idea of wanting Matt Cassel instead of me. No big deal. I'll be there in a little bit.

LeBron James: I don't know what New York is getting so excited for, I'm actually going to go and play in Europe when my contract's up. Poland's where it's at, y'all!

David Stern: We truly believe that this year, it's anyone's game. Sure, the Celtics and Lakers are playing well, but it's not like we're rooting for them to make the Finals or anything.

Any Cubs Player In The Last 100 Years: No, the pressure never gets to us. Just bad luck and bad circumstances. We don't really buy into the whole "curse" thing.

The list of these is potentially endless. Any others in mind?

The Kansas City Patriots?

Chiefs General Manager Scott Pioli was brought in from New England to bring Patriot-like success to Kansas City.  Who knows whether they'll win next season, but at least Pioli is 'patriotizing' the roster.

Yesterday Kansas City traded for linebacker Mike Vrabel.  Today, they have acquired quarterback Matt Cassel.

Cassel had accepted the back-up role to Patriots QB Tom Brady and was going to play for the franchise tag induced $14.65 million salary that he was due to receive.  I know, right?  He was prepared to accept nearly $15 million to be a back up.  What a guy.

But the fact is Cassel was too good last year not to be starting in 2009.  Cassel threw for nearly 3,700 yards last season with 21 touchdowns and only 11 picks for a team not expected to do much after Brady went down.  Granted, New England didn't make the playoffs, but the Patriots went 11-5 and were in the playoff hunt until the last week of the regular season.  Even though he had a lot of weapons to help him on the offense, Cassel was illusive and dynamic, and many Pats fans would say he won them a few of their games by himself.

Will the Chiefs be good this year?  It's hard to tell.  You'd think after the atrocious year they had last season, going 2-14 and earning the third pick in April's draft, they have nowhere to go but up.  Considering they've hired a new coach, Todd Haley, and have acquired a quality quarterback and a good linebacker, they're improving, to say the least.

And it's not like they didn't have talent there this year.  They still have Tony Gonzalez.  They still have Dwayne Bowe.  They still have Larry Johnson.  Most importantly, in a league where it's not only not unheard of but almost expected to go from worst to first, why couldn't K.C. charge towards the playoffs?  After all, the Dolphins were 1-15 in 2007, and then AFC East Champs in 2008.  Is it so crazy to think the Chiefs could be next year's Dolphins?

We'll find out come next winter.  But if I were a Chiefs fan, I'd be feeling pretty good about the direction of my football team.

Lay off, Pete Carroll

Mark Sanchez is going pro even though his coach doesn't like it.

The fourth-year junior quarterback from the University of Southern California decided Thursday that he wanted to live out his childhood dream, despite coach Pete Carroll's warning that going pro early might be a mistake.

"Mark is going against the grain on this decision and he knows that," Carroll said at Sanchez scheduled news conference yesterday at USC. "He knows that coming out early is a tremendous challenge for a quarterback and the statistics don't back up that it's easy to be successful in the way that he's going about it."

Sanchez may not be the top pick, and the odds might be against him, so says his coach. But he's banking on the fact that NFL scouts will fall in love with his physical tools and will overlook his lack of experience as a college quarterback. (And apparently that wasn't an issue for Matt Cassel, another former USC QB, who hadn't started since high school when he lead the Patriots to an impressive 11-5 season.) He'll also count on the program he came from to entice NFL teams to take him early. USC has had two quarterbacks drafted in the top ten in the last six years: the aformentioned Leinart and Carson Palmer, who was drafted 1st overall in 2002.

And Sam Bradford is returning to Oklahoma for his junior season.

He's also hoping that his excellent season will launch him up the charts. His 3,207 passing yards ranked him 20th in the FBS this past season, and he tossed 34 touchdown passes while only throwing 10 interceptions. Against the top competition in the country, Sanchez was superb, throwing 4 touchdowns against Ohio State, 4 against Penn State, and 3 in Eugene against Oregon. Granted, the offense he ran was a well-oiled machine, but Sanchez showed great skill managing the offense and making big plays when necessary.

He might not be quite ready for the NFL. Pete Carroll definitely doesn't think so. And while Carroll may say he has Sanchez best interests at heart, he has to consider what's best for his program too. Sanchez staying for his senior year would sure up Carroll's quarterback situation for next season as they try again to compete for a national championship.

But Sanchez could be the number one pick in April's draft. Scouts suggest he'll likely be one of the top two quarterbacks taken. Either Sanchez or Georgia's Matthew Stafford will likely be the first quarterback selected, according to ESPN's Todd McShay. The Lions might decide to take a quarterback with the first pick, making Sanchez a viable candidate for the top spot. How can he not go after that opportunity, even if he's not ready?

With the collective bargaining agreement likely to change soon in the NFL, players should take advantage of the defunct system currently in place. With the type of money top draft picks make in this day and age, athletes that have the chance to be top picks should go for it. So what if they don't pan out? The guaranteed money they'll make from their rookie contracts will financially support them comfortably for a long time. And unless they spend it poorly, the signing bonus could probably set them up for life. If Sanchez really has a shot at that kind of cash, he should take it, even if his NFL career won't be legendary.

It was the guy's childhood dream to play in the NFL. He didn't grow up dreaming of playing four years at USC. Take it easy there Pete.