Dan Pompei

When veteran quarterbacks change teams, the guy in the upper deck isn’t affected much. Might have to adjust his fantasy roster a bit. Or even add or subtract from his jersey drawer.

But for a quarterback like Jay Cutler who went to the Bears from the Broncos, changing teams means a complete upheaval of everything in his life — from where he lives to who he deals with, to what he wears to what he is asked to do.

And it isn’t always an easy transition. Putting a quarterback on a new team isn’t as simple as screwing a light bulb into a different socket.

It’s more like taking a delicate marine fish and putting him in a different tank. You have to be concerned about if the water temperature will be a shock to his system, if the salinity, PH, calcium and phosphate levels are right for him, and whether or not the other tank inhabitants will get along with him. And then you have to worry about if he will be negatively affected by the activity outside of the tank.

Asked about making the transition to a new team, the first thing Cutler and Kyle Orton brought up was something the public rarely thinks about — the hassle of physically moving.

“Moving your family is difficult,” said Orton, who went to Denver in the Cutler trade. “My wife was in Chicago for a couple years and she started to make some good friendships. To pack up and leave, for her, was tough. She’s adapted well though.”

Orton was surprised to find out he was traded on April 2. On April 3, he left his home in suburban Chicago for Denver. More than five months later, he has yet to see that home again.

“No one likes to move,” Cutler said. “That whole process takes time. It’s a struggle. Then you have new teammates, new coaches, new offense, new city. There are a lot of different elements involved in changing teams.”

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Learning a new offense can be the most daunting challenge. It certainly was for Brett Favre when he went from the Packers to the Jets because the Jets had a completely different offense from the one he played in for his previous 16 years in Green Bay. The transition from the Jets to the Vikings was much easier on Favre because he is going back to what he did for so long.

“It’s the same system he knew so well,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said. “It’s like being back in France and speaking French. It all comes back to you pretty quick.”

It wasn’t the same for Orton, who left a West Coast based system for Josh McDaniels’ offense, which is completely different and arguably one of the most complex in the NFL.

“It was a struggle learning it,” Orton said. “It’s a very complex offense, especially after being in one system for four or five years. You develop a comfort level. You have favorite plays, everything you like. You have to learn everything from scratch, even operation at the line of scrimmage and calling the play in the huddle.”

The transition has been easier for Cutler, who went from Mike Shanahan’s West Coast based offense to Ron Turner’s West Coast based offense.

“It hasn’t been as hard as I first imagined it,” he said. “There are similar protections, similar routes. There are only so many different ways to put guys in different spots on the football field. It’s come fairly easy, but I’m still learning.”

Besides learning a new system, a veteran quarterback changing teams has to hope he fits the new system. They don’t always. When Kurt Warner went from the Rams to the Giants, he wasn’t anywhere near as effective because the system did not complement his abilities. But when he went to the Cardinals, he looked like the old Kurt Warner in part because he fit the offense so much better.

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The veteran quarterback also has to hope he clicks with new teammates. Cutler and tight end Greg Olsen seemed to hit it off immediately, both on and off the field. But Cutler and wide receiver Devin Hester don’t appear completely on the same page yet.

Favre never seemed to completely be in sync with Laveranues Coles after they were put in the same aquarium in New York last year. Jets running back Thomas Jones made some publicly critical comments of Favre late last season.

Favre hopes he melds better in Minnesota, both in terms of personally and on the field. “A big factor will be getting used to our guys, how they run their routes, who are the fastest, who wiggles open, how do you throw Sidney Rice the ball,” Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell says.

Looking sharp in purple is one thing. Playing sharp in purple is another.

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