Reid Fischer's World of Rants

“Numerous attempts to contact Jay Cutler in the last 10 days, both by Head Coach Josh McDaniels and myself, have been unsuccessful.

A conversation with his agent earlier today clearly communicated and confirmed to us that Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos.

We will begin discussions with other teams in an effort to accommodate his request to be traded.

I’ll let the statement from owner Pat Bowlen speak for itself.  It seems as though the Broncos have tried mightily to reach Cutler, to try and talk to him, to attempt to reassure him.  It also seems that Cutler is so dead set in his position and his feelings are so hurt (justified or not) that he won’t return calls even from the team owner.  I’m sorry, but if your boss, or in this case your boss’ boss, tries to call you, you had darn well better answer that phone.   It is very clear that Cutler does not want to be in Denver, and it seems as though the Broncos are tired of trying to deal with him.

 Frankly, I still say wait until the first mandatory minicamp April 17-19, which is one week before the draft, and see if Cutler shows up for that.  Its entirely possible he could come to his senses by then, report, and be a professional like he’s supposed to be.  Or, he could show up, complain the entire time, not participate willingly, and in general be the ultimate distraction.  Either way, that minicamp would go a long way toward telling the Broncos what they need to do.

Of course, if Cutler arrives and is a big time distraction, it could potentially drive down his trade value, which is probably what the Broncos are afraid of if it is indeed true that they are once again entertaining trade offers for the Pro Bowl quarterback.

Right now the Broncos are hopeful that if they do trade Cutler that multiple teams would be interested, and that it could result in a big time bidding war among them for Cutler’s services.  The longer this drags on, and the more teams know that Broncos have to dump Culter, they will know they may not have to give up as much to get him.  Right now, Cutler’s trade value is such that no shortage of interested teams should be willing to pony up for his services.  In fact, your team may in fact be wondering if they should get in the sweepstakes, particularly if they feel they are close to making a Super Bowl run.  

Regardless of what the Broncos get in return, it will be interesting to see what they end up doing at quarterback should they deal Cutler.  Cleveland has said they are keeping both Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn so that no longer seems like an option, and the Redskins said last week they were not interested in Cutler.  I can’t imagine that whoever they get back in a trade would be a serviceable QB, because any team that would want Cutler figures not to have a starting quarterback they can trade in return. 

That being said, I present an interesting scenario.  Make a deal with the Cowboys, Jay Cutler for Tony Romo straight up.  Both guys seem to be in need of a fresh start, and it would allow the Broncos to get a legitimate starting quarterback in exchange for giving up their Pro Bowl signal caller.  Dallas has already shown a willingness to make changes by releasing Terrell Owens, and getting Cutler could further help clean up the lazy attitude in Big D.  The Broncos could easily sell Romo on throwing to Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, and getting someone like him would be a much easier sell to fans than getting Kellen Clemens from the Jets.  In additon, it would make Dallas a much more likely landing spot for Mike Shanahan in 2010.  If Cutler was there, Shanahan would drool at the chance to coach him again.  Plus, it would create a tremendous subplot, since reports have leaked that Cowboys-Broncos is very likely to be the season opener at Mile High.  Think Cutler would get booed?

I still hold out faint hope that this will somehow get worked out and that Cutler will still be the Broncos quarterback this season.  I am also realistic enough to realize the odds of that happening are not much better than zero.  If Cutler is dealt, I just hope the Broncos get fair value in return.  Franchise quarterbacks are very difficult to find, and the Broncos thought they had one in Cutler.  I guess I can look at it this way: if this saga is reflection of Cutler’s true attitude and an indicator of his true leadership abilities, than maybe he isn’t the franchise quarterback the Broncos are looking for.  At least I can tell myself that, and hope he doesn’t win multiple titles with Mike Shanahan in Dallas while the Broncos are firing another coach in three years and still looking to return to the playoffs.  

Oh well, at least I got to enjoy my alma matter make the Elite Eight this year in the NCAA tournament.  What do you mean Mike Anderson has an offer of $2 million a year from Georgia???   Ugh, at least the Nuggets have a chance in the NBA playoffs.  

You’re right, that’s probably wishful thinking too.