Diner Morning News: The Cutler Saga

FROM MICHAEL LOMBARDI:

16 March 2009

QUOTE:   “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis'. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger -- but recognize the opportunity."  John F. Kennedy

FROM MIKE KLIS OF THE DENVER POST... Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler has formally asked to be traded, a request he made Sunday through his agent, Bus Cook.  For now, the Broncos are hoping to appease Cutler's concerns and reach an understanding so they do not have to trade him, coach Josh McDaniels told the Denver Post on Sunday night.  Cutler and Cook issued the trade request a day after a meeting with McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders did not go the way quarterback had hoped.  "I would like to talk to Jay before we go on and start to discuss some other type of alternative," McDaniels said Sunday night. "In the last couple weeks, we've been all about trying to communicate and resolve his unhappiness with what happened — which we understand — and that's been our direction."  It won't happen at McDaniels' first team meeting, which will be held this morning at the Dove Valley headquarters. Cutler will not be there.

This situation in Denver has gone from bad to worse to bordering on impossible to resolve without a trade.  Everyone appears to want to communicate and settle the differences, but the more each party talks, the more the differences become broader and harder to fix.  There seem to be deep-rooted problems that aren’t going away with words.  So where does this go now?  If Cutler really wants a trade, one would think there would be many suitors for his immense talents.  But if the Broncos trade Cutler, who’s going to be their starting quarterback?  Chris Simms is finally healthy, and he might be the man who most benefits from this dispute.  When this conflict was not resolved immediately after the Matt Cassel trade to the Chiefs, one had to wonder if it would ever be resolved.  The actions of the past week seem to point to a very thorny situation that will require much attention.  The Broncos have to find a long-range solution at quarterback before they can trade away a Cutler. 

 If the Broncos wanted Cassel so badly, why didn’t they step up to the plate and make the trade?  Why didn’t they just get Cassel and then trade Cutler to the team that made the best offer?  It appears to me the Broncos got cute and wanted to back-door the Patriots on the Cassel deal and never thought the Pats would pull the pin on a trade so quickly.  Three-way trades are for the NBA, not the NFL.  It appears the Broncos wanted to sign Jabar Gaffney and Lonie Paxton before they let the Patriots know they were in the market for Cassel.  Denver seems to have the most to lose right now.  Many teams will be interested in trading for Cutler, but now that Cutler and his agent are involved, it will make it more difficult for the Broncos to get full market value.  All I know from my sources is that once the deal was out there on Cassel going to the Chiefs, the Broncos’ front office became a little nervous and very disheartened. 

You’d have to believe that the Jets, Bucs and 49ers have all called and offered their first-round picks for Cutler.  It’s not too difficult to feel that the 49ers could improve by trading their 10th overall pick for him.  The Jets have to be thinking they couldn’t get a player who could do what Cutler could do for them with their 17th pick.  The Bucs’ defensive coordinator is Jim Bates, who knows Cutler well from his son Jeremy, who coached Cutler the past two years.  The time is now for these teams to seize the moment and make the move to get him. 

FROM DAVE HUTCHINSON OF THE STAR-LEDGER... On Monday, (Josh) Freeman will have a chalk talk with Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and on Tuesday, he'll work out for coach Rex Ryan, general manager Mike Tannenbaum and Schottenheimer. It's unknown where the interview/workout will take place. Freeman, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound junior, is shooting up the charts after an impressive showing at the NFL Combine and at Kansas State pro day. He has a big arm and is mobile. As I've said, I think the Jets are fully prepared to go with either Kellen Clemens or Brett Ratliff at quarterback, but if Freeman falls to them at 17th overall it's unlikely they'll pass him up.

In the first round, you have a good feeling who the competition will be for drafting a QB.  The 49ers are major players, as are the Jets and Bucs.  You will always have a few surprises for the quarterback derby because a team you might not suspect will sometimes jump in and make a move.  My surprise team this year is the Browns.  On paper, they have Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, but neither is very accurate and neither is an Eric Mangini player. When a new coach comes in, as we’ve seen in Denver, changes happen. 

I know all of Cleveland has great hopes for Quinn, but the general feeling in the NFL is that he’s too inaccurate and too inconsistent to be a full time starter.  Quinn slipped in the draft two years ago for a reason, and that reason was his inability to be accurate on all three levels.  As Cleveland makes changes to its roster, don’t count out making a move at quarterback. 

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