LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Jay Cutler may be the only franchise quarterback that Jerry Angelo has ever acquired in a trade, but the 26-year-old isn’t the first key contributor to sign a contract extension with the Bears.

Angelo’s belief in rewarding his own players is evident in the 16 veterans currently on the 53-man roster who preceded Cutler in re-signing with the Bears before reaching the free-agent market.

The group consists of Brad Maynard in 2004; Patrick Mannelly in 2005; Roberto Garza, Hunter Hillenmeyer,  Israel Idonije, Olin Kreutz, Jason McKie and Adrian Peterson in 2006; Charles Tillman and Nate Vasher in 2007; and Alex Brown, Desmond Clark, Robbie Gould, Tommie Harris, Devin Hester and Brian Urlacher in 2008.

Jay Cutler signed a two-year extension that runs through the 2013 season.

“We want loyal players,” Angelo said. “That’s why we reward our own, because loyalty is a two-way street, and you just can’t talk about it. You have to put that into action, and I’ve felt we’ve done that throughout.

“I feel very strongly about players who want to be Bears. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that. If you don’t have a good locker room, you can’t have a good football team. We’ve always adhered to that philosophy and we will as long as I’m here.”

Angelo took notice when Cutler talked about how much he cherished the chance to play for the Bears at his introductory press conference a day after he joined the team he grew up rooting for.

“That was important to us, and it goes back to the trade,” Angelo said. “When he made it very clear that he wanted to be a Bear, that did influence us. We probably did get—and I know I speak for myself—a little bit more aggressive. I know in the era of free agency we might not have the loyalty to the team that we had in yesteryear. But having the loyalty to the team is very, very important to me, very important to the organization.”

The Bears had not planned to sign Cutler to an extension during the season. After all, his rookie contract didn’t expire until following the 2011 campaign. But the quarterback’s agent, Bus Cook, presented some ideas and concepts to the team, and the two sides were able to find common ground. 

Cutler signed the two-year extension, which runs through the 2013 season, on Tuesday night.

“We felt given the uncertainty of the CBA, given the fact that we had cap room, this was a good time for us because what it does for us is it helps our planning going forward,” Angelo said.

“This will not impede us to not do anything we need to do in free agency moving forward. In fact, it’s going to help us now because there’s real clarity because Jay was always in the plans. It was just when we were going to do it and how much it was going to cost. All that got resolved in a timely manner.

“We’re very, very happy with that. I know Jay is happy with that. He made it very clear he wanted to be a Bear. Money was never an issue when we made the trade with him. It was just about him coming in here and proving his worth. We felt we’d seen enough and this was the time.”

Re-signing Cutler at this point not only will create flexibility down the road in signing other players, but it enables the Bears to construct their team around a rare talent at the most important position on the field.

“When you have a quarterback in place, it makes building easier,” Angelo said. “We all know that. That in part was a big reason why we focused on the position and did what we did with the trade. Hopefully that holds true for us. It makes it a little easier to build on. Maybe you don’t have to be perfect on both sides of the ball to win.”