Check out all of our 2009 NFL team previews.

Offseason Additions: Kyle Orton (QB); Brian Dawkins (S); Andre’ Goodman (CB); Renaldo Hill (S); Jabar Gaffney (WR); LaMont Jordan (RB); Correll Buckhalter (RB); Andra Davis (LB); Chris Simms (QB); J.J. Arrington (RB); Brandon Llyod (WR); Ronald Fields (DT); Nick Greisen (LB).

Offseason Losses: Jay Cutler (QB); Dre’ Bly (CB); Erik Pears (RB); Michael Pittman (RB); Nate Webster (LB); Jamie Winborn (LB); Ebenezer Ekuban (DE); Darrell Jackson (WR); Dewayne Robertson (DT); Patrick Ramsey (QB).

Player to Watch: Knowshown Moreno, RB.
Moreno will excel as a pass catcher in Josh McDaniels’ offense and should find plenty of running room behind the Broncos’ solid offensive line. He has outstanding vision and has picked up the art of pass-blocking. Although he’s been limited the past few weeks after suffering a MCL sprain in Denver’s preseason opener, Moreno is on track to play in Week 1. As long as he stays healthy, he could emerge as the Broncos’ every down back.

Team Strength: Led by tackles Ryan Clady and Ryan Harris, the Broncos have one of the best offensive lines in football. As a rookie, Clady demonstrated outstanding run-blocking skills and strength at the point of attack. Harris isn’t as athletically gifted as Clady, but he surrendered just 2.5 sacks last year and has excellent technique. Center Casey Wiegmann and guards Ben Hamilton and Chris Kuper are solid pass-blockers, although they could struggle with run-blocking as the team transitions out of the old zone-blocking scheme.

Potential Weakness: The Broncos’ defensive line is a major question mark heading into the season. Nose tackle Ronald Fields is a 315-pound space eater, but usually doesn’t command double teams while his backup, Marcus Thomas, hasn’t developed proper technique yet to be effective. Denver’s defensive ends have a combined total of just one NFL start between them. Ryan McBean has good size (6’5, 290 pounds) and athleticism, but he often gets manhandled by opposing offensive linemen. Kenny Peterson is expected to start on the other side, even though he has failed to live up to expectations so far.

Outlook: While the Broncos certainly have talent, they’re also one of the more dysfunctional teams entering the season. Can McDaniels work out his issues with disgruntled receiver Brandon Marshall? Or will the team wind up trading him like they did Jay Cutler? If Denver retains Marshall, will he play hard or be a distraction? Can Kyle Orton fill Cutler’s shoes and run McDaniels’ potentially high-powered offense? The Broncos have an outstanding O-line and a couple of nice young weapons in Moreno and second-year receiver Eddie Royal. But everything revolves around Orton, who is limited and would benefit greatly if Marshall was a part of the offense. Defensively, the line is a major question mark, as is outside linebacker with former end Elvis Dumervil is playing a new position and career special teamer Mario Haggan will become a first time starter. Fortunately, rookie Robert Ayers should develop into a quality pass rusher and is versatile enough to play OLB and DE. D.J. Williams is a quality inside linebacker, but Andra Davis is average and best and both will need help from an inept D-line in order to be productive. The secondary is outstanding, with shutdown corner Champ Bailey being joined by future Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins, the underrated Andre Goodman, the dependable Renaldo Hill and the intriguing youngster Alphonso Smith.

If Marshall gets his act together and Orton overachieves, the Broncos certainly have enough talent to compete in a dismal (save for the Chargers) AFC West. But McDaniels has gotten off to a rocky start in Denver and his players are going to have to buy into his system.

2009 Prediction: 2nd, AFC West.

In an interview with Denver Post columnist Woody Paige, Denver owner Pat Bowlen discussed a variety of Broncos-related topics, including how Jay Cutler left the team no choice but to trade him.

“Honestly, I still don’t know what happened with Jay. I don’t want to throw him under the bus, but I made two phone calls (and there is proof, Broncos executives claim) and left voice mails with my cell number and asked him to call me, and he didn’t,” Bowlen said. “I don’t do e-mails. If Jay had called and said he thought the coach was (not a nice person) and he wanted out of here, I would have said, ‘Let’s work this out.’ But I heard nothing directly from him.

“Pick up the phone! That’s where we got off the rails. We had no other choice but to trade him. If (the trade talk) was the reason Jay left, he should have left.”

I feel for Bowlen because he was stuck in the middle of Cutler and new head coach Josh McDaniels during their feud. I think Cutler wanted out the moment Mike Shanahan was fired and he saw an opening when McDaniels attempted to trade for his former quarterback Matt Cassel. Cutler was trying to baby his way out by refusing to deal with the situation like a grown up and McDaniels’ ego wasn’t about to allow him to let a young quarterback bully him around in his first gig as a head coach.

So I believe Bowlen when he says Cutler never returned his phone calls and thus he had no choice but to trade the QB. What was Bowlen supposed to do? He had just hired McDaniels and I’m sure the new coach was telling him that the team could win without Cutler. In the end, he was forced to make a trade he didn’t want to make and now he just has to hope that everything works out in the end.

The Arizona Cardinals have reduced their trade demands for disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin to a second-round pick in Saturday’s draft and other considerations and are talking to at least three teams who seem to be newly interested, two sources told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio on Friday.
The New York Jets, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles have expressed interest given the downgraded demands from a first- and third-round pick, the sources said.

Cardinals general manager Rod Graves and coach Ken Whisenhunt had repeatedly emphasized at the team’s pre-draft news conference Tuesday that they would be happy to keep Boldin and eventually try to sign him to a new contract.

If I were GM Jerry Angelo of the Bears, I’d be all over this like stink on horse crap. Chicago doesn’t have a ton of holes to address after landing quarterback Jay Cutler in a trade and signing free agent offensive linemen Orlando Pace, Frank Omiyale and Kevin Shaffer. So why not give Cutler a dynamic weapon like Boldin in the passing game?

That said, the Bears did give up their first round pick and one of their thirds (they still have one compensatory selection left from losing receiver Bernard Berrian via free agency last year), so losing their second (plus whatever else the Cardinals wanted) would sink their entire draft.

Trading away two picks for Cutler was already out of character for Angelo. If he traded any more picks, the Bears would be wise to put out a search party to see where the real Jerry Angelo was being kept.

Update: Cardinals’ GM Rod Graves denies that the Cardinals have dropped their asking price on Boldin. Looks like just another internet rumor on NFL draft eve…

In one day, the Bears seemingly addressed their 20-year old quarterback problem and also added a significant piece to their offensive line. In one day, the Bears might have gone from a .500 team to the perennial favorites in the NFC North.

It’s way too early to be getting into predictions for the 2009 NFL Season. Voluntary workouts have begun, but the draft is still weeks away and teams are still trying to reshape their rosters.

But with the trade acquisition of Jay Cutler and the signing of left tackle Orlando Pace, the Bears significantly upgraded their offense and hopefully made current players like Matt Forte, Devin Hester, Frank Omiyale and Chris Williams better.

Make no mistake – Chicago is far from a Super Bowl contender. They still need to upgrade their wide receiver position, could use another defensive end to throw in the mix with Alex Brown, Adewale Ogunleye and Mark Anderson, and even though they signed Josh Bullocks this offseason, they could still use an upgrade at safety as well.

But while every team in the division has arguably gotten weaker, the Bears have upgraded. The Vikings are still pretty strong, but they lost long-time center Matt Birk and still have questions to be answered at quarterback. The Packers are planning to run a 3-4 defense next season, but have done next to nothing to add true 3-4 personnel and the Lions will continue to take a sandblaster to their entire roster.

Perhaps the biggest thing holding the Bears back is offensive coordinator Ron Turner, who can be less than innovative at times. Maybe that’s only because he hasn’t had the personnel to run his offense at full tilt, but the bottom line is that Cutler is the type of quarterback that Turner will have to unleash. It would have been foolish for the Bears to acquire a big-armed quarterback if they’re not going to push the ball up the field through the air. I’m not saying they should go Run n’ Shoot because after all, that’s never been the Bears’ style. But now that Turner has weapon in Cutler, he needs to use him.

Again, it’s early. The draft will give us a better indication of how the Vikings and Packers will look next season and the Lions could even improve if GM Martin Mayhew uses all of his picks intelligently (i.e. not like Matt Millen). But anyone who thinks Chicago was fleeced in the Cutler deal hasn’t been paying attention. GM Jerry Angelo makes his money in rounds 2 through 7 and now that he doesn’t have to worry about squandering yet another first round pick, he can do what he does best – find gems in the middle rounds.

Assuming Cutler can put down the Kleenex for two seconds and stop crying about his situation and just play ball, the Bears are going to be tough to beat in the North next year.

Shortly after sending multiple draft picks and quarterback Kyle Orton to the Broncos to acquire Jay Cutler, the Bears signed former Rams’ left tackle Orlando Pace to help protect their new signal caller.

Pace will sign a two- or three-year contract and will be inserted as the starting left tackle meaning that 2008 first-round draft pick Chris Williams will have to stave off newly signed veteran Kevin Shaffer to claim a starting job at right tackle. Pace, 33, missed 25 games over the last three seasons but started 14 last season and cleared a physical when he visited the team on Monday. Agent Kennard McGuire praised the visit and it led to quick negotiations.

Pace is considered a better pass blocker, and that will allow the Bears to perhaps get a better run blocker in Williams or Shaffer on the right side. A lot of teams are right-handed when it comes to running the football. The depth chart looks much different than it did when minicamp ended two weeks ago and free-agent pickup Frank Omiyale, originally signed to play left guard, was running at right tackle with Williams on the left side. There were no backups in place.

This is a great signing for a couple of reasons. One, if Pace can stay healthy he offers an immediate upgrade at the left tackle position for the Bears. Although aging, Pace still has enough left in the tank to give Chicago one or two quality seasons until they can secure a more long-term answer. The Pace signing also allows the youngster Chris Williams to move to right tackle, which might be a better position for him because he doesn’t have to worry about protecting the quarterback’s blind side. Lastly, Omiyale isn’t a tackle. I don’t know why the Bears signed him to be a tackle, but at his size and quickness he’s more suitable for guard. With Pace now on board, Omiyale can shift down to guard and now as a unit, Chicago’s offensive line has been completely upgraded. (It’s not spectacular by any means, but they’re in better shape now than they were at this point last season.)

You have to give the Bears a ton of credit. They played possum all offseason, waited for their time to strike and then stole Cutler and Pace away from other teams. I know fans are probably waiting for their next signing to be Torry Holt, although he seems destined to land in Tennessee. Then again, I wouldn’t count the Bears out of anything right now.

Several media outlets are reporting that the Broncos have traded quarterback Jay Cutler to the Bears in exchange for first round picks in 2009 and 2010, a third round pick in 2009 and Kyle Orton. Denver will also give up an undisclosed draft choice in the later rounds.

It’s amazing how this entire situation unraveled. Two months ago there wasn’t a peep about a potential Cutler trade and now he’s set to become a Bear. One has to wonder whether Cutler wanted out as soon as Denver fired Mike Shanahan and when he saw an opening (i.e. Josh McDaniels’ supposed interest in former Patriots’ quarterback Matt Cassel), he took it and ran with it.

Even though they gave up a king’s ransom to acquire him, Chicago fans have to be ecstatic. They get a young quarterback with plenty of starting experience and one that has a strong arm to play in poor, late-season weather conditions. The bottom line is that the Bears haven’t had a reliable quarterback in nearly 20 seasons and now they have one who has the potential to succeed. Two first round picks are a steep price, but as I wrote yesterday, GM Jerry Angelo was probably going to blow those picks anyway (Chris Williams instead of Branden Albert, Jerry? Really?!) so Chicago might as well get a franchise-type quarterback instead.

Another note about the compensation, you have to remember that Cutler is a young quarterback with starting experience and who was sought after by multiple teams. And when you factor in how weak the quarterback class is this year, any team that wanted Cutler was going to have to give up several high draft picks like the Bears eventually did.

Cutler should also make guys like Matt Forte better around him. And if the Bears can sign Orlando Pace (which shifts Williams over to right tackle and Frank Omiyale to guard), then the offensive line would be upgraded as well. If the team could land a decent receiver prospect like Ohio State’s Brian Robiske in the second round, then the Bears, who had been quiet, would have turned in a solid offseason.

For the Broncos, the two first round picks are nice, but now they have a glaring need at quarterback. “Neck Beard” Kyle Orton has shown flashes of potential and maybe given quality receivers like Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, along with a more innovative offense like the one McDaniels is set to run in Denver, he can succeed. But chances are neither Orton nor Chris Simms is the Broncos’ long-term answers at quarterback and they’ll look to select a signal caller in one of the next two drafts.

The nice thing is that McDaniels now has the opportunity to pick the quarterback he fills can best run his offense, because rumor had it he didn’t believe Cutler could. It remains to be seen whether or not Denver will target a quarterback prospect like USC’s Mark Sanchez in this year’s draft, but at least now they’ve rid themselves of the Culter mess and can concentrate on reshaping their roster again.