LAKE FOREST, Ill. – In what was both a monumental and surreal few hours Thursday afternoon at Halas Hall, the Bears dramatically revamped their offense and their future.

Jay Cutler earned his first Pro Bowl trip in 2008, passing for 4,526 yards and 25 TDs.

General manager Jerry Angelo and the personnel department stunned the NFL by boldly acquiring Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler in a blockbuster trade with the Denver Broncos, and then soon thereafter agreed to terms with free agent offensive tackle Orlando Pace, a seven-time Pro Bowler, on a three-year deal.

“We had a big day as everybody knows,” Angelo said during a conference call with the media. “We’re very happy with the outcome. It just all came together, and really it came together unexpectedly.”

To the surprise of many, not only were the Bears involved in the Cutler derby; they won it. Chicago acquired the 25-year-old and a 2009 fifth-round draft pick (140th overall) in exchange for quarterback Kyle Orton, first-round picks in 2009 (18th) and 2010 and a third-round pick (84th) in 2009.

Cutler apparently was upset when the Broncos fired head coach Mike Shanahan and even more angry when he discovered that Shanahan’s replacement, Josh McDaniels, was attempting to trade for New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel.

As Cutler’s relationship with the Broncos deteriorated in recent weeks, Angelo discussed the possibility of acquiring the quarterback with team president Ted Phillips and coach Lovie Smith, among others.

“I came to the conclusion after talking to Lovie and Ted as well as ownership that I felt like we needed to pursue this,” Angelo said, “and if we decide to get in it, we want to get in it to win it.

“My understanding is that there were quite a few teams that were in this; to what degree I can’t answer that. I do know that we really didn’t know for sure where we stood in this whole process until maybe an hour before it got done.”

The Redskins, Jets, Buccaneers and 49ers were believed to be the frontrunners in the Cutler derby, but it was the Bears who landed the 6-3, 233-pounder in what undoubtedly is the boldest move that Angelo has made since becoming the franchise’s general manager in 2001.

“The rarity of the opportunity makes it unique,” Angelo said. “But really being in this situation as long as I have been, you just know when things are right. Part of it’s a gut feeling.

“We’ve done a lot of homework. We talked internally quite a bit as an organization. Everybody felt good about this. Everybody, including ownership and Lovie, were 100 percent behind this.”

Cutler, 25, played his first three NFL seasons with the Broncos after arriving as the 11th overall pick in the 2006 draft. In his first full season as a starter in 2007, he completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 3,497 yards with 20 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and an 88.1 passer rating.

Cutler was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2008 after connecting on 62.3 percent of his passes for a Broncos-record 4,526 yards with 25 TDs, 18 interceptions and an 86.0 rating. By comparison, the Bears’ single-season mark for passing yards is 3,838, set by Erik Kramer in 1995.

Two days after the 2008 season ended, Angelo told reporters that he was fixated on stabilizing the quarterback position. The general manager indicated at the time that Kyle Orton had played well during the first half of the season and could in fact be the long-term solution at the all-important position.

Asked Thursday if trading for Cutler was a move the Bears had to make, Angelo said: “I don’t want to do anything to diminish how we felt about Kyle, and I want to make that real clear to everybody. We like Kyle very much. I felt very comfortable that if we were going into this season with Kyle, we were fine.

“This came up unexpectedly. We looked into it. We just felt like in our best interest looking now and in the future, we can’t minimize the importance of the position. We’ve talked about that. I know personally it’s been something that has been my goal for the organization and felt this was the right thing to do.”

Angelo feels that including Orton in the trade gave the Bears an edge over other teams that were also attempting to pry Cutler away from the Broncos.

“I’m speaking from my perspective—I’m not speaking for Denver—but I feel that what really facilitated this trade was that Kyle was part of it,” Angelo said. “The draft compensation, given what I understand, was very similar with other teams. But they like Kyle Orton, and I think that was part of it.

“And I can see why they like Kyle. Kyle for us in Soldier Field had a 15-2 record. So I don’t want anybody looking at this that this was a move of desperateness. It certainly wasn’t.”