Bleacher Report: Bears looking to move up for Mariotta

[Stinger226]

If it's just the pick swaps and Cutler, I'm all for Mariota. I wouldn't trade a 2nd rounder or a future 1st on top of it though, no way.

 

Hell, it really wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he sucked in year 1 and the Bears ended up right back here next year with a high pick. As long as it's not because he's 'Shea McClellin out of the league bad' and it's just your typical rookie QB struggles. Who knows, maybe he's actually really good and leads us into playoff contention right away. Cam Newton didn't call much of an offense either at Auburn and he had a fantastic rookie season. I think Mariota could possibly have similar impact.

We would be trading an NFL starting QB and a 7th for the chance to pick Mariota? No way in hell do they do that. Even if Pace doesnt like Cutler, our high pick this year needs to be a start day one stud not a maybe in 3 or 4 years be a star.

[bradjock]

The Titans and Vanderbilt are both in Nashville (about 2.5 miles away from each other), so there is a pretty big following in that area for both teams. Not as big as Vandy baseball, but still popular. However, the consensus among fans is they don't want Cutler.

 

Also, I am against moving up or trading for players when we lose picks. Look what Cutler turned into:

 

1st Round 2009 (18) - Could've been Alex Mack or Clay Matthews

1st Round 2010 (11) - Denver traded down to #13, picked up #113, traded down to #24, picked up 2x 3rd Rounders (Eric Decker, WR, #87), used #113 to move up to #22 (selected Demaryius Thomas). NE used #113 on Aaron Hernandez. NE traded #24 to Dallas (who selected Dez Bryant). NE moved to #27 and selected McCourty.

3rd Round 2009 (84) - Mike Wallace, WR

 

So we could've had Clay Matthews, Dez Bryant, Aaron Hernandez, Eric Decker, and Mike Wallace and an extra 3rd Rounder.

 

Those two years devoid of early picks is another reason why we have so few players on the team that were drafted by us.

 

Yeah, but every draft in every sport has that "what could have been" scenario. How many bad quarterbacks might we used with those picks if we hadn't traded for Cutler?

 

If you go back to the 2000 draft, the players drafted before Brian Urlacher were Courtney Brown, LaVar Arrington, Chris Samuels, Peter Warrick, Jamal Lewis, Corey Simon, Thomas Jones, and Plaxico Burress. See any future hall of famers there?

[bradjock]

We would be trading an NFL starting QB and a 7th for the chance to pick Mariota? No way in hell do they do that. Even if Pace doesnt like Cutler, our high pick this year needs to be a start day one stud not a maybe in 3 or 4 years be a star.

 

The thing is, there were rumors that we were offering Cutler and received few to no offers. Teams might have offered a 4th round pick and that was it. The problem was his huge contract and cap space.

At the same time, there were rumors about Brandon Marshall and that we were going to cut him if nothing else. We ended up giving up him and a 7th round pick for a 5th round pick . . . there was some truth in that rumor.

 

I'm guessing that with his cap hit and his coach killing capability, the rumor was close to being correct and Cutler is valued as a 4th rounder. No way a team trades the #2 for the #7 and a fourth rounder. To trade up to the #2 to get RG3, the Redskins gave up the #6, two more first round picks, and their second rounder.

 

I concede I've done some speculating here, and Tennessee may not require the haul that St. Louis received, but there's no way in hell Cutler and the #7 gets it done.