Biggs: Haley gets the QB he wanted

Todd Haley knows how long Jerry Angelo looked for a quarterback in Chicago and, yes, he’s part of the reason the Bears’ decades-long search for a passer ended with the trade for Jay Cutler.

As the Bears’ wide receivers coach, Haley saw firsthand what the organization’s quarterback carousel looked like. From 2001 to 2003, when Haley was an assistant under Dick Jauron, Chicago switched starting quarterbacks a dizzying 13 times, including one start by CFL star Henry Burris. When Cutler starts the season opener Sept. 13 at Green Bay, it will mark the 26th change in starting QBs since Angelo came on board in 2001.

The Bears have their fingers crossed the not-so-merry-go-round will stop spinning, and no one questions that it’s all the product of Cutler forcing his way out of Denver after he learned the Broncos were fixing to deal him in an effort to land Matt Cassel, Haley’s new quarterback in Kansas City.

APTodd Haley

“Yeah, I’ll take partial credit,’’ Haley said of the Bears’ once-in-a-generation trade to acquire a Pro Bowl quarterback in his mid-20s. “I pushed hard for Cassel. I didn’t know him up close and personal, but I think he has a chance to be good.’’

The player whom Chiefs fans need to judge Cassel against is Mark Sanchez, who went to the Jets with the fifth overall pick, two slots after Kansas City grabbed LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson. That was the alternative for the offensive-minded Haley, who could have also held out hope Georgia’s Matthew Stafford would fall in the draft. Since then, the Chiefs have committed to Cassel long term, signing him to a $63-million, six-year deal.

“Evaluating the quarterbacks is obviously one of the harder jobs in the NFL, and if you have someone who can do it, as Bill Parcells used to always say, `Pay them whatever you have to pay them,’ because a lot of people have burned to the ground thinking they have it right,’’ Haley said. ``[General manager] Scott [Pioli] was around the kid, and all I could see was from the outside initially, and you saw a player thrown into a very difficult situation that could have gone south quickly with the Randy Mosses and all of the potential things going on there, and the amount of pressure and who he was stepping in for.

“For 15 games, he got better every game with a good supporting cast, there’s no doubt. Then you’re around him, and I think he’s got the innate leadership skills, he’s learned from maybe the best ever. I think he’s big, he’s strong, he’s smart, he’s athletic. It appears he can make all the throws. I think he just needs more seasoning, but I don’t think there are any guarantees with anybody. If you were drawing a quarterback off the draft board, you can’t ensure success either. We’ve got a guy that has 15 games of pretty quality stuff. To me, if I had to choose between the draft board and a guy like this, I’m taking this guy every time.’’

It was a double win for the Chiefs. They landed Cassel and then got to sit back and watch five weeks of drama unfold in Denver before the Broncos rid themselves of an unhappy Cutler.

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