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By: Larry Mayer | Last Updated: 4/2/2009 12:39 AM LAKE FOREST, Ill. – After the Bears agreed to terms with free agent Orlando Pace, general manager Jerry Angelo fielded only one question about the seven-time Pro Bowler during a 20-minute teleconference with the media.



Jay Cutler, the 11th overall pick in the 2006 draft, joins the Bears after spending his first three seasons with the Denver Broncos.
It’s not that Pace’s addition isn’t a big deal; it’s just that it isn’t every day—or every decade for that matter—that the Bears land a franchise quarterback like they did Thursday, especially a 25-year-old who’s coming off a Pro Bowl season.

“When you just look at the history of the league, I can’t recall a situation quite like this,” Angelo said after the Bears acquired Jay Cutler and a 2009 fifth-round draft pick from the Broncos in exchange for quarterback Kyle Orton, first-round selections in 2009 and 2010 and a third-round choice in 2009.

“How [the situation between Cutler and the Broncos] matriculated to the point it got to, I can’t answer that. All we did was reacted to a situation that we felt would benefit our football team.”

Angry that new Denver coach Josh McDaniels had tried to trade for Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel, Cutler wasn’t painted in the most positive light by some media outlets during an ongoing feud with the Broncos. But Angelo isn’t worried about Cutler’s attitude.

“I don’t personally have any concerns,” said the general manager. “Lovie [Smith] and I talked about that. We did a lot of work—like I’m sure a lot of people that were interested in trading for Jay—not just when he was in Denver, but going back to his days at Vanderbilt.

“One of our area scouts, Rex Hogan, lives right in the Nashville area, and he really developed a great rapport during the process prior to the draft.

“We felt that [Cutler] is 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.”

Courtesy of www.chicagobears.com