The Cutler Catastrophe

Well, I can't begin this blog without voicing my opinion on the elephant in the league: the complete meltdown between Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler and The Denver Broncos. First of all, I want to say that I think that Jay Cutler probably has some growing up to do. He's a 25 year-old professional athlete with more money than he will ever know what to do with and the way he handled the trade talks between new coach Josh McDaniels and several other teams regarding QB Matt Cassell, was a bit childish and immature. Now, that being said, I completely blame McDaniels and the Broncos for Cutler demanding a trade and ending up with the Chicago Bears.

McDaniels inherited the #2 ranked offense in the league and the 29th ranked defense. He was smart to hire Mike Nolan to take over the defense. Nolan may not be rollin' in San Fran anymore, but the guy knows how to coordinate a defense. But, I think that McDaniels was wrong to let Cutler believe that a trade was possible. Even if he looked into a trade to bring in Cassell (which on all accounts, he did), the coach should have immediately tried to smooth things over with Cutler and assure him that he was their starting QB once that trade fell apart.

I personally think that trading Cassell for Cutler was never in the best interest of the Broncos. McDaniels paints himself as a "it takes a team to win, not one player" kind of coach, such as his mentor Bill Belichick. I think he contradicts that by trying to go after ONE player who was in no way a clear upgrade for that team. To make matters worse, McDaniels let Cutler stew and fume about his future as a Bronco to the point where the QB felt he could no longer play for the coach and the organization. Then to add salt to the wound, McDaniels proceeds to go on a clumsy and forced PR campaign, stating in interviews that Cutler was "our quarterback". Well which one is it Coach? Is he tradeable or is he your quarterback?

The Broncos fired Mike Shanahan at the end of last season and saw McDaniels as the coach to bring the team back to its Super Bowl winning luster. They fired Mike Shanahan. I just had to repeat that. I find it shocking that you would fire one of the most seasoned and winning coaches in the league for an unproven coordinator. But, that's for another post. Anyhow, I feel for Broncos fans. They went from a young, athletic, promising, pro bowl quarterback and the #2 ranked offense to.... well... Kyle Orton. Nothing against Orton, he's got some decent numbers to his resume. But.... he's no Jay Cutler.