It’s been an eventful off-season, but you knwo that when they lace ‘em up, the Denver Broncos will be on top of their game, and BroncosLocker.com is right there with them. This is your daily dose of Bronco-mania, from the field to the locker room to the “man on the street.” Get it all right here!
The Broncos have acquired 31-year old C/G Ross Hochstein from the Patriots for a 7th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Hochstein played in 15 games (2 starts) for the Patriots last season. He has now played in 92 games (20 starts) in his 8 year NFL career. This will probably turn out to be a good trade for both teams.
The Broncos have acquired 27-year old DT LeKevin Smith and a 7th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft from the Patriots for a fifth round pick in the 2010 Draft. Smith played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last season and he had 14 tackles. He has now played three seasons in the NFL appearing in 41 games (0 starts) and making 18 tackles. Despite his size (6′3″, 308 pounds), Smith is not much of a football player. This trade just shows how desperate the Broncos are along the D-Line.
The Denver Broncos have traded QB Jay Cutler and a 5th round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft to the Chicago Bears for QB Kyle Orton, a first and third round pick in 2009 and a first round pick in 2010. Orton will replace Cutler as the Broncos’ starting QB in 2009. He played in 15 games for the Bears last season completing 272 of 465 passes (58.5%) for 2,972 yards with 18 TD passes and 12 interceptions (79.6 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 24 times for 49 yards (2.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs. Orton is more of a game manager type of QB so look for the Broncos to run more in 2009 than they did last season. Orton has now played in 33 games in his NFL career and he has completed 505 of 913 passes (55.3%) for 5,319 yards with 30 TD passes and 27 interceptions (71.1 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 53 times for 92 yards (1.7 ypc) with 3 TD runs. The Broncos did get three nice picks for Cutler but they might be sorry they made this trade down the road if he improves with the Bears.
25-year old Jay Cutler played in all 16 games for the Broncos last season and he completed 384 for 616 passes (62.3%) for 4,526 yards with 25 TD passes and 18 interceptions (86.0 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 57 times for 200 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs last season. The Broncos really handled the situation with Jay Cutler poorly. He played in 37 games in his three year career with the Broncos completing 762 of 1,220 passes (62.5%) for 5,437 yards with 54 TD passes and 37 interceptions (87.1 QB Rating). He also carried the football 113 times for 423 yards (3.7 ypc0 with 3 TD runs for the Broncos.
The Broncos have traded WR Keary Colbert to the desperate Seahawks for a late round draft pick in 2009. Colbert played in both games for the Broncos this season but he didn’t catch any passes. Colbert wasn’t likely to get to play much due to the depth at WR of the Broncos so getting something for him was a very, very smart move.
The Broncos have traded 25-year old CB Domonique Foxworth to the Falcons for an undisclosed 2009 NFL Draft Pick. Foxworth played in 14 games (6 starts) for the Broncos last season and he made 42 tackles and defensed 5 passes. Foxworth played in 46 games (18 starts) in his career with the Broncos and he made 173 tackles, defensed 24 passes and had 3 interceptions.