A month of speculation, rumor and wishful thinking has ended with the announcement from Broncos owner Pat Bowlen that he will trade quarterback Jay Cutler. The Jets are going to be at the front of the list of bidders, and they should be. 26-year-old talented signal callers don't come on the market very often, and few teams have as much uncertainty at the position as the Jets.
There will be a lot of discussion about how much it costs to make a trade for Cutler, and there will be a lot said about his attitude and makeup which were lacking in the whole Bronco meltdown. Those are valid issues which need to be figured out, but they are secondary to the only question the Jets have to answer. Do they want Cutler?
If they are considering any quarterback with the 17th overall pick, the answer has to be yes. Cutler's proven he can play in the NFL, something you can't say about Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez or Josh Freeman. You can't say it about Kellen Clemens or Brett Ratliff, either. The Jets don't have certainty at the most important position on the football field, and Cutler provides it.
Cutler comes with risks, but so do any of the options the Jets are considering. None of those options come with the established reward level that Cutler brings, however. Ultimately that has to be the deciding factor when the Jets consider their position on pursuing him.
The guess here is that they go all in for Cutler. Mike Tannenbaum's done whatever's necessary to get his guy in the past, and there's a lot already on the table for the 2009 season.
