ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Jay Cutler got his wish yesterday: a ticket out of Denver. And the Chicago Bears have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades.

The Broncos traded their disgruntled Pro Bowl passer to the Bears, who've gone through a bevy of quarterbacks without much success ever since Jim McMahon was calling plays in the 1980s.

The Broncos get quarterback Kyle Orton in return, along with two first-round draft picks and a third-rounder.

The Broncos get the Bears' top pick in this year's draft, which is No. 18 overall, and Chicago's first-round draft pick in 2010, along with a third-round selection this year (No. 84 overall). Denver also gave up a fifth-rounder this year.

Cutler asked for a trade last month after his relationship with Josh McDaniels soured when the new 32-year-old coach talked to other teams about trading him. Cutler and his agent, Bus Cook, didn't think McDaniels was upfront with them about the trade talks.

Two meetings designed to clear the air only raised Cutler's level of distrust. Now, Chicago has a top quarterback, albeit one with baggage.

"I don't have any concerns," Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said. "(Coach Lovie Smith) and I talked about that. We did, like a lot of people who were interested in Jay, a lot of work going back to not just when he was with Denver (but) but going back to his days at Vanderbilt."

Angelo said area scout Rex Hogan lives in the Nashville area and developed a "great rapport" with Cutler coming out of Vanderbilt in 2006.

"We felt that (Cutler) is a very good person, a good leader," Angelo said. "He had some things that happened in Denver. We recognized those, but we treated them as just speed bumps, part of the growing process. He's highly competitive, he's highly emotional. That just comes with the territory."

Although Cutler is 17-20 as a starter, he's been victimized by dismal defenses in Denver, and he was an impressive 13-1 when the Broncos held opponents to 21 points or fewer.

Last year, Cutler threw for a franchise record 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. In his 37-game career in Denver, he completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 9,024 yards, 54 TDs and 37 interceptions.

Denver now has Orton, who threw for 2,972 yards last season, along with fellow newcomer Chris Simms and Darrell Hackney at quarterback.

Simms, who signed a two-year, $6 million free agent deal ostensibly to serve as Cutler's backup, has thrown just two passes since undergoing emergency surgery to remove his spleen after a game in 2006. Hackney's next NFL pass will be his first.