Less than two months after firing two-time Super Bowl winning Head Coach Mike Shanahan and hiring his replacement, 32-year old and first-time Head Coach Josh McDaniels, the Denver Broncos find themselves in quite a predicament.
It was reported last Saturday that the Broncos were actively shopping QB Jay Cutler, at one point almost agreeing to a three-team trade with the Patriots and Bucs that would have made Matt Cassel the Broncos new starting quarterback. When the trade did not go down, and Cassel was traded to the Chiefs instead, Jay Cutler caught wind of the trade talks and expressed his discontent.
First of all, Josh McDaniels is crazy to even consider trading Cutler. Sure, he was the Patriots Offensive Coordinator until this season and knows the great things Cassel can do in his offensive system. But Cassel had one productive year in perhaps the most stable franchise in all of sports. Cutler, with a rifle arm that could legitimately be compared to Brett Favre's, has blossomed into a superstar that most any team would kill to be able to build a team around.
By all accounts, Cutler is loved by his Denver fans and teammates. Definitely not the way McDaniels wanted to start his tenure in Denver -- with a seat already as hot as an industrial furnace. McDaniels should immediately begin mending his relationship with Cutler. If he ends up trading Cutler and his successor doesn't fill Cutler's big shoes, then McDaniels will be run out of town. If Cutler plays poorly for the Broncos this year and the bitter relationship between quarterback and head coach continues, McDaniels could be run out of town as well. Either way, it seems he has set himself up for failure.
But, while McDaniels may be crazy for considering trading Cutler, the superstar QB has proven to be quite the prima dona. The NFL is a business, and no matter how important you are to your team, you also carry around a number. No player should ever be exempt in trade talks, if a trade can help the team. Carmelo Anthony, who the Denver Nuggets recently considered trading, has some advice for Cutler in the Denver Post. C'mon Jay, get over it. You're not the first player a team ever CONSIDERED trading.
What adds intrigue to this story, however, is Peter King's recent discovery that Cutler asked for a trade soon after the season ended. Supposedly, Cutler was upset when Offensive Coordinator Jeremy Bates (who Cutler openly supported as the Broncos next head coach), left to coach for USC. So perhaps Cutler's game of crybaby is part of a bigger plan to get traded. If this is the case, then Cutler can only be described as one thing. Either way, this adds an interesting dimension to the Cutler saga, and it will be interesting to monitor as the offseason moves forward.
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