The Broncos must really love Mr. Cutler, they traded up in the first round to take him and then guaranteed him more money than Jake Plummer.

OT Brian Meadows formerly of the Carolina Panthers has been signed to a three-year contract by the Denver Broncos.

The trade being discussed is running back Thomas Jones going to the Broncos for receiver Ashley Lelie.

I’m getting mixed signals about Jake Plummer and his future in Denver. Mike Shanahan must have really been upset at Plummer for having a rotten game in the AFC Championship Game, so much so that he traded up in the first round to take Jay Cutler out of Vanderbilt. Does one game throw out three years of excellent play? Maybe in Denver it does.

Plummer has started 43 games in Denver and has put up some numbers. He completed 60.1% of his passes and threw for 9,637 yards with 60 TD and 34 INT. Plummer pretty much pushed Brian Griese out the door with his vastly improved play over his days with the Arizona Cardinals. With the Cardinals he threw 90 TD and 114 INT, so you can see what moving to Denver and playing for Coach Shanahan has done for him.

Jay Cutler and Bradlee Van Pelt are the back-ups and I would think neither is ready to push Plummer just yet. Cutler had an impressive career playing for Vanderbilt which was always out-manned in it’s SEC games. The playing field should be more level for him in the NFL with the Broncos. The thought is that the Broncos will bring him along slow, most likely as the #3 QB to start the season.

Bradlee Van Pelt is a local hero from his days at Colorado State, and he has NFL bloodlines as his dad was a very good linebacker for the New York Giants. Van Pelt only has 7 more yards passing than Cutler however, so the Broncos really don’t know exactly what they have behind Plummer.