Since everyone is talking about it, I guess I should start with Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos. My towel throwing with the Broncos started a bit before this after the Broncos signed Brian Dawkins. You might of thought it was back when they fired Mike Shanahan I was happy they went out and got a proven defensive leader and was riding high on the Mile High Horse. Then Brandon Marshall runs into more legal trouble and that world crumbles. The downward slide begins there and hasn’t stopped since. This Jay Cutler – Trade ordeal is just a little grease for speed.
I should say I have no idea why the Broncos under new coach Josh McDaniels want to trade Cutler other than the reported idea that the former Patriot wanted to work with Matt Cassell.
I’ve heard stories that Cutler is a whiner and I’ve seen people say he has dropped the ball, but I didn’t know a QB played every position on the football field. As a young QB, Cutler has shown promise and talent. He may be a whiner sometimes and he may have a bit of hubris when he compares himself to John Elway, but this is what a young guy is supposed to do. I’d rather have a young guy show some kind of spunk rather than be a clean cut, Johnny Unitas or Peyton Manning (corporate shill.)
Basically what I’m saying is if you have a baby tree that is just growing, you don’t rip it out of the ground once it’s spread it’s roots, unless you have a good reason behind it. Just because you want to work with a QB you are familiar with doesn’t give you an open door to basically screw up an already injured team. Cutler has the makings to be a franchise QB if Denver were to build up a team around him. Last year he threw for 4,500 yds and had a completion rating of 63%, only a few points shy of top QB Phillip Rivers.
I can understand McDaniels wanting to keep with a system he is used to and understands. But with a team that is already becoming defined and building up, is it really the right thing to do as a coach to come and try to shake the whole thing up. I think it’s selfish and not a sign of a good coach. If I am a guy who is just starting as a head coach of a team, I wouldn’t go in all gun ho and try to change the entire make up of a team. I would instead take what I know, mix it with what I have on the existing team and add to it. Sure you might not win the first season, but you need to take a risk if you want to make it in this world. Coaching a pro football team is no different, especially if you are unproven as a head coach.
Anyway now it seems that the Broncos have alienated Jay Cutler, who now wants to be traded. They’ve made that bed and now they need to deal with it. They aren’t going to get Cassell, especially from the division rival Kansas City Chiefs. A team that may be poised to shake up that division, possibly winning it all (it is a fairly bad division after all.)
Also who is really sold on the idea that Cassell is anything special, he did play on the Patriots which is stacked to the gills with players that would make Tavaris Jackson look decent. I take that back because Cassell is better than Jackson at least, that’s a low blow.
I don’t know where Cutler will end up. Maybe Detroit, maybe Chicago…maybe even Minnesota (something that could push them into the Super Bowl.) My point of this whole long diatribe is to say that the Broncos made a mistake in my eyes. I know Cutler isn’t an untouchable QB, but he showed promise for the future. Of his draft class, he is the only QB worth talking about at the moment (unless Vince Young or Matt Leinart want to appear have a nervous breakdown/pool party.) If he goes to a team that is looking for a QB (Minnesota…my pick) he’s going to prosper.
Will the Broncos do the same without him? That remains to be seen. I can’t help but feel discouraged for this upcoming season though because Denver is the first half of my dual NFL favoritism. I’ll probably be better off without it though.
Next time…Bodymore, Murdaland
