The Music City is a 470 mile drive straight up the USA away from Solider Field. Here are the driving directions, Jay Cutler, now that you are a member of the Chicago Bears. The Bears have acquired Cutler in exchange for Kyle Orton, the 18th overall pick this year, and their first and third in 2010. It won't take long for Cutler to surpass every other quarterback that has tried to fill Sid Luckman's shoes, but he will be doing so, at least initially, with one of the NFL's worst receiving units. Cutler is trading out Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal for Devin Hester and Greg Olsen, that's a big net loss, but he is a 25-year-old QB that significantly improves his receivers. Beyond the debate of his personality, Cutler is a top-10 quarterback and I think he is more realistically a top-five quarterback. If you rule out Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb and Drew Brees because of age, the only QBs that are potentially more valuable are Philip Rivers, Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Eli Manning. I would take Cutler over the latter three and with a few adjustments and after some playoff experience, he could surpass those first three. During the 2008 season, Cutler was third in yards and had an 86.0 passer rating, which was just 16th, but considering his usage that is still an excellent number. In 2007, Cutler had an 88.1 passer rating, which was 12th in the NFL. To give that number some context, Brett Favre had a 72.2 passer rating in his second full year starting and that number jumped to 90.7 in his third year as Green Bay's starter. John Elway didn't have a passer rating as good as Cutler's first two seasons until he was 33. Cutler has a similar skill set as those two quarterbacks in terms of arm strength, improvisational abilities and mobility. His ceiling is, essentially, their careers and I believe he is already ahead of their pace. The Bears aren't quite a team that is a great QB away from being a Super Bowl contender like the Steelers were before Roethlisberger, their defense and offensive line has aged since 2006, but the NFC Central lacks a dominant team and they were a Week 17 loss at Houston away from the playoffs. The Bears are almost certainly in the playoff with Cutler in 2008 and will have an excellent chance in 2009 if the veteran defense stays relatively healthy. Losing two consecutive number one picks is an expensive price to pay, but the Bears at least didn't have to go Joaquin Phoenix crazy with second and third round picks to land him. Cutler helps their current receivers a whole lot more than Hakeem Nicks or Darrius Heyward-Bey would have helped Orton. They need to get lucky further down in the draft with a sleeper receiver and Chicago should also now sign one of the two future HOF free agents on the market, preferably Torry Holt. An upgrade is necessary to maximize Cutler's gifts, but they already have a very good young running back who was the Bears' best receiver some games in Matt Forte and Olsen is a legitimate top-10 receiving tight end. Cutler has shown some diva tendencies over the past few months, but he seemed to take getting his diabetes monitor thrown in a Hawaii pool by Peyton Manning in stride and I don't think the Jeff George comparisons are the least bit fair. George was absolutely dreadful during his first few seasons in the NFL, especially in comparison to the numbers Cutler has posted in just two full seasons. Grade for Chicago: A Even in the days after Pat Bowlen announced that the Broncos would trade Cutler, it seemed like a fixable situation. I think Cutler would have eventually forgave both Bowlen and Josh McDaniels and nothing induces amnesia better than winning. The Broncos overachieved in 2008 due almost solely because of Cutler. The Broncos won all eight games in which Cutler's passer rating was over 90 and lost all four games in which it was under 90. To be fair, Cutler's highest single rating in those eight losses was 77.8 and he had two in the sixties and one at 49.8, so he clearly has a long ways to go in terms of consistency. Denver entered the offseason as a team with a potent offense that needed just a couple upgrades at defense and they will get a difference maker defensively with the Bears' pick, but I don't see how Orton is fit to be a New England-style QB long term. The Lions, 49ers and Bears until this trade have been struggling for years and years to find a top-tier QB and they don't typically grow on trees from back-up college QBs the way McDaniels might be accustomed to. Because the Broncos didn't get back even 25% of a Herschel Walker type of return, they will likely join the Buccaneers and Falcons in the legion of trading away young future HOF quarterbacks. Grade for Denver: D+