The Bears released Jay Cutler after eight seasons and the most appropriate career winning percentage with the team: .500.
Because I'm a sucker for revisionist history, it's hard not to think about how different life would have been had Cutler been traded to the Vikings — who were said to be interested in him — instead of the Bears in 2009. Namely:
1) Minnesota clearly wouldn't have signed Brett Favre later that year. The Vikings already would have had their starting QB. So 2009 would have been completely different — again, for better or worse.
2) Assuming Cutler stayed healthy, the Vikings never would have drafted Christian Ponder. If he stayed in Minnesota as long as he stayed in Chicago, the Vikings wouldn't have drafted Teddy Bridgewater, either.
3) Vikings fans probably would have hated Cutler.
4) But sometimes they would have loved him, too.
Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.
