Fantasy Spin: Jay Cutler to the Bears

The Broncos traded Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears today, ending what was a loooooong and painful saga between he and head coach Josh McDaniels.

In exchange, the Broncos received a 2009 first-round pick, a 2010 first-round pick, a 2009 third-round pick and a player to be named later Kyle Orton. As always, there are fantasy implications:

Jay Cutler -- I think this is a downgrade for Cutler's fantasy stock. He had a horrible defense last year and a wide-open offense that allowed him to get to the Pro Bowl. Additionally, Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal are substantially better than anything that the Bears have to offer in the wide receiver category. If it's a keeper league, I'm not punting on Cutler yet, by any means, but his value takes a dip. Although, because of that dip, there's a pretty good chance he'll be an excellent mid-round "sleeper" (that term is relative with his name value of course) and QB2 material, so don't be surprised if I'm touting him in a few months.

Brandon Marshall -- Um, yeah. Things are not good for Marshall. Not only did he just have surgery -- he'll be fine for training camp next season reportedly -- but he loses a quarterback who he really had a bond with, despite their individual attitude issues and right now his fantasy value plummets with Orton in town. That being said, there's a very strong chance the Broncos will have another quarterback in town before the beginning of the season, so don't freak out and trade him in keeper leagues.

Devin Hester -- This is the spiciest change of them all. Everyone knows that Orton didn't have the deep-ball accuracy to hit Hester when he was blazing go routes on the sideline. But you know who does? Cutler, that's who. Hester's value immediately skyrockets with the improvement from Orton to Cutler, although my gut instinct tells me he's blatantly going to end up being overvalued come draft day.

Greg Olsen -- And here's the second biggest upgrade of everyone involved. Olsen was a nice option at tight end last year, but far from reliable, simply because of Orton's presence behind the line. But don't be fooled; his potential makes him an upper end TE and Cutler's presence should push him up into the "just-past elite" group behind the Antonio Gates and Jason Wittens of the world.

Eddie Royal -- See: Marshall, Brandon, but with less of a hit because of his previous value.

Matt Forte -- Love this for Forte; he goes from being the focal point of the offense to having a guy that can keep defenses honest in Cutler. That should (coupled with the reported signing of Orlando Pace) provide him substantially more room to run in Chicago.

Kyle Orton -- Orton gets a slight upgrade here; I actually think that with Marshall and Royal on board, he suddenly becomes the type of quarterback you gamble on with your second slot if you draft Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. That's, of course, assuming that Orton is actually starting (I don't think he will be) which might be a longshot, but if he is, he gets a bump in value.