The NFLs new best quarterback rivalry will commence on Sept. 13 at Lambeau Field.
No one can say for sure how Jay Cutler will fare with the Chicago Bears, just like no one can say for sure how the Aaron Rodgers Era will proceed in Green Bay. But everything about these two former first-round draft picks suggests this will be a matchup worth watching in the coming years.
Both quarterbacks assumed NFC North Division starting jobs amid controversy Cutler in a messy divorce with the Denver Broncos, who traded him to the Bears on Thursday, and Rodgers amid the messy divorce of the Packers and Brett Favre last summer.
Both assumed the mantle under high, if not wholly unrealistic expectations Cutler as the antidote for a quarterback-sick franchise, Rodgers as the antichrist to those who worshipped his legendary predecessor.
Both have put up gaudy statistics, but neither has gotten a team to the playoffs, much less won a game there. Their combined record as NFL starters is 23-30.
Both figure to have plenty of chances, though. Rodgers got his new contract last fall, with $20 million guaranteed on a deal that runs through 2014. Cutler is halfway through his six-year, $48 million rookie contract and more likely than not will get an extension in the near future.
During Favres 16 seasons with the Packers, the only other quarterbacks in the division who were primary starters for at least three straight years were Trent Dilfer (with Tampa Bay in the old NFC Central), Daunte Culpepper (Minnesota), Scott Mitchell (Detroit) and Joey Harrington (Detroit). Only Culpepper made multiple Pro Bowls, and even with a playoff win against the Packers after the 2004 season, he never was viewed on the same level as his rival to the east.
This is different. This is an open competition.
It doesnt hurt that these are the Packers and the Bears, two storied franchises that have played more games than any other teams in the NFL. That both now have high-profile 25-year-olds at the games most important position will not go unnoticed.
Cutler doesnt shy from rivalries, either. He made clear his distaste for his old AFC West rival, Philip Rivers, exchanging words on the field during a 2007 game and calling him kind of an ass in a TV interview last season.
NBC executives must have done a few fist pumps when the Cutler trade was announced. Theres no way to know how this rivalry will play out, and the nation will get to watch it begin on Kickoff Weekend.
Sound familiar?: The compensation the Broncos received in exchange for Cutler two first-round picks, quarterback Kyle Orton and an upward swap of their fifth-round pick for Chicagos third-rounder wasnt all that different from what it cost them to obtain another unhappy quarterback, John Elway, on May 2, 1983.
The Baltimore Colts had drafted Elway with the No. 1 overall draft pick the previous weekend, but he refused to play for the team. So, the Colts dealt him to the Denver for the No. 4 pick, offensive lineman Chris Hinton; the Broncos first-round pick in the 1984 draft; and backup quarterback Mark Hermann.
Hinton went on to an exceptional 13-year career, making seven Pro Bowls, but that was the only part of the deal that panned out for the Colts. They used the other first-round pick (No. 19 overall in 84) on guard Ron Solt, who made the Pro Bowl in the strike-shortened 1987 season but ended up in Philadelphia the next year and later was busted for steroid use. Hermann threw only 92 passes for the Colts before joining the Chargers in 1985.
Elway, of course, became a Pro Football Hall of Famer and led the Broncos to five Super Bowls, winning two.
We wont really know about this trade until we find out what kind of players the draft picks are, Elway told The Denver Post after the Cutler deal was done. If those guys are all-pros, its a hell of a trade. If theyre not, and Cutler goes on to win a Super Bowl, well
On the other hand: In the hours leading up to the trade, reports centered on one destination for Cutler and it wasnt Chicago.
The Washington Times reported a trade to the Redskins was imminent, and a Denver TV station reported Cutler expected to be headed to the nations capital. Although the deal wasnt completed, the Redskins acknowledged on Friday they had discussions with the Broncos precisely the sort of unconsummated trade talk that upset Cutler, setting in motion the chain of events that led to his exit.
The Redskins reportedly shopped their own quarterback and former first-round pick, Jason Campbell, to Denver and at least one other team while pursuing Cutler. But unlike Cutler, who requested a trade after hearing about Denvers interest in quarterback Matt Cassel, Campbell said the whole thing only will serve as motivation.
In a lot of ways, you have a lot of feelings about this, but theres also a lot of stuff you just keep on the inside, said Campbell, who reportedly was shopped to Denver and at least one other team.
You just go out there with a little bit more passion, a little bit more of a chip on your shoulder. Out of all of this, something good has got to come out of it.
Additional Facts
Nobody is going to take the time to get up off the ground to hit a quarterback. So, youll have guys make the play, pay the fines, write it off on their taxes and move on. Whoever made that rule is crazy.
Eagles CB Sheldon Brown, on the new Tom Brady Rule barring players from lunging from the ground at quarterbacks