The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the Bears are interested in quarterback Jay Cutler, who the Broncos are willing to trade before this month’s draft.

Yahoo! Sports reported last week that the Bears called the Broncos expressing interest in Cutler should Denver decide to deal him. They have been reported as one of at least 10 teams to do so, and one league source said the number is higher than that.

The timing makes sense. The Broncos want ample opportunity to create a frenzied market and ensure they receive a king’s ransom for Cutler, who turns 26 this month. They also need time to prepare for the draft, and they’ll likely be looking for a package of multiple draft picks and possibly multiple players.

If the Bears are serious, they might have to part with two first-round picks and a player or additional picks. It likely will require creativity. Other teams that have been linked to Cutler include Tampa Bay — which would have gotten him in the proposed three-way trade with New England — Detroit, Minnesota, San Francisco, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Carolina and the New York Jets. Washington also can’t be ruled out.

Two first round picks is a steep price to pay, but you figure Bears’ GM Jerry Angelo is going to botch those selections anyway so they might as well get a young quarterback out of the deal. (I’m kidding! I’m kidding! Okay, no I’m not…)

As the article points out, the Broncos have done a nice job of creating a market for Cutler with so many teams reportedly being interested in the young QB. And why wouldn’t a team like the Bears be interested? Cutler is young and experienced, has a strong arm and the Bears haven’t had a reliable quarterback since Jim McMahon. But if they do wind up pulling off a trade for Cutler, the Bears better get the kid some receivers.

Broncos’ owner Pat Bowlen announced that Denver will attempt to trade disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler and SI.com’s Peter King estimates that the team would like to get a deal done before this month’s draft.

This development is in stark contrast to what the Broncos’ stance was at the NFL meetings last week. McDaniels, who created a firestorm of discontent with Cutler when he attempted to secretly trade him in February and the trade failed, seemed certain last week week he would be able to mend fences with Cutler in a private meeting.

A source Tuesday night said McDaniels felt he was at the point of no return with Cutler and had no choice but to pursue a trade.

Among the teams certain to be interested are Tampa Bay, the New York Jets and Detroit, which holds the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft. But the Lions may have been swayed to pick Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford No. 1 overall after his impressive workout Tuesday on the Georgia campus.

Other teams are likely to be interested, including Cleveland, Minnesota, San Francisco and possibly Carolina. It’s a virtual certainty that the Bucs and Jets, both without a bonafide No. 1 quarterback entering the draft, will bid aggressively for Cutler.

This might wind up working well for all parties involved. Cutler clearly doesn’t want to play for the Broncos and quite frankly, I think he made that decision long before this whole riff with McDaniels began (i.e. he’s been upset since the day Mike Shanahan was fired). So he’ll be able to get out of Denver, McDaniels then has the opportunity to choose a quarterback that he feels best fits his system and whichever team lands Cutler, they’ll get a young signal caller with plenty of upside.

Personally I thought Cutler handled himself very poorly in all of this. He seemed to blow things out of proportion, wasn’t willing to truly reconcile with McDaniels and overall acted liked a 5-year old that wasn’t getting his way. Cutler better hope for his sake that the grass is greener on the other side because if he winds up in Detroit, he could wind up regretting all of this very soon.

Jay Cutler’s agent Bus Cook recently said that the quarterback’s feud with the Broncos started when head coach Mike Shanahan was fired.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen challenged a claim made by agent Bus Cook to NFL.com on Wednesday morning that he had lied to quarterback Jay Cutler, a Cook client. Jay was disappointed in the firing of Mike Shanahan and met with the owner,” Cook told NFL.com. “The owner assured him everything would be fine. The owner said he had the second-best offense in football and would leave the offensive staff intact. Jay was good with that. Then he hires an offensive coach who gets rid of the staff.” Bowlen said Wednesday afternoon that he did not recall meeting with Cutler during the coaching search. Cutler left Denver the day before Mike Shanahan was fired and did not return until February. Bowlen said he would like the Pro Bowl quarterback to stay with the Broncos but was unable to predict if that would happen.

When Cutler met with new head coach Josh McDaniels last weekend, he said that McDaniels made it clear that he could still entertain trading him and that he wants his own guy at quarterback. But McDaniels said nothing like that was ever uttered. And now Bowlen is denying that he ever had a meeting with Cutler to reassure him about the Shanahan firing.

There’s a lot of he said, she said happening right now and at least to me, it appears that Cutler is stretching the truth as far as he can. It seems like this kid has wanted out since Shanahan got fired and will stop at nothing until he burns down every last bridge in Denver.

SI.com’s Peter King notes in his Tuesday edition of “Monday Morning Quarterback� that the Broncos aren’t currently entertaining any trade offers at this time for Jay Cutler.

Hold off on the Jay Cutler trade talk — for now. A source close to one team that has inquired with the Broncos about the unhappy quarterback tells me the Broncos have told them they’re hanging on to Cutler and won’t entertain discussions for him at this time.

That’s a natural thing for the Broncos to say. They can’t give Cutler or his agent, Bus Cook, a shred of evidence that they want to move him until coach Josh McDaniels is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt the relationship with Cutler is not fixable. But it’s probably more likely than unlikely the Broncos will find the situation can’t be remedied, in my opinion. So I do expect Denver’s tune to change sometime between now and the April 25 draft, and I do expect Cutler to be traded.

I expect the usual suspects to line up for Cutler — Detroit, Cleveland, San Francisco, Tennessee and perhaps Carolina, though the Panthers, without a first-round pick in the 2009 draft, will be at a severe disadvantage. But I don’t think he’ll end up in one of those spots unless Detroit offers the 20th and 33rd picks of the draft, and a player sweetener, straight up for him.

I expect the most fervent suitors to be Tampa Bay and the New York Jets.

I still think Detroit has the most to offer with two first round picks. Then again, they have a ton of holes to fill and giving up multiple draft picks for Cutler could be too much in the end when they could select Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick.

My best guess is that Cutler gets dealt on one of the days leading up to the draft. But there’s a fair amount of time between now and then so maybe McDaniels can pull a rabbit out of his hat and remedy the situation before then.

Let me state for the record that I’m just speculating here, but if the Broncos do eventually decide to trade disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler, the Detroit Lions seem like a perfect fit.

The Lions are in obvious need of a quarterback and currently hold the No. 1 and No. 20 overall picks in next month’s draft. If they’re interested in Cutler, they could offer the No. 1 pick, assuming that Denver also swings Detroit a mid rounder as part of the package.

The quarterback class in this year’s draft is awfully weak. Assuming of course that the Broncos would be willing to trade Cutler, wouldn’t the Lions be better off with him than Matthew Stafford or Mark Sanchez? Even if they do give up the No. 1 pick for Cutler, they still have the No. 20 pick to address their need at left tackle (Michael Oher, anyone?).

Cutler hasn’t won anything yet and has proven to be an arrogant crybaby at times, but there’s no denying that he has the physical tools to succeed in the NFL. That’s not to say that Stafford or Sanchez don’t, but at least Cutler already has experience under his belt and 25 (he’ll be 26 at the end of April) he’s still awfully young.

Broncos’ quarterback Jay Cutler says that he can’t trust new head coach Josh McDaniels and thus wants the team to trade him.

Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler said Sunday night that he will not report to the team’s first meeting on Monday and has formally asked to be traded. He confirmed that a Saturday meeting with first-year coach Josh McDaniels ended badly from his perspective while McDaniels offered another viewpoint on Sunday night.

“I went in there with every intention of solving the issue, being a Bronco, moving forward as a Bronco,” Cutler said. “We weren’t in there but about 20 minutes, [McDaniels] did most of the talking and as far as I’m concerned, he made it clear he wants his own guy. He admitted he wanted Matt Cassel because he said he has raised him up from the ground as a quarterback. He said he wasn’t sorry about it. He made it clear that he could still entertain trading me because, as he put it, he’ll do whatever he feels is in the best interest of the organization.

“At the end of the meeting, he wasn’t like, ‘Jay, I want you as our quarterback, you’re our guy.’ It felt like the opposite. He basically said that I needed to tell him if we can’t work this out, to let him know,” Cutler added. “I thought he was antagonizing me and that was disappointing because I was ready to move on, committed as a Bronco. Really, I figured we’d hash things out, shake hands, laugh a little and move forward. What happened [Saturday] was the last thing I expected. If I didn’t think it could be fixed, I never would have come back to Denver. It was painfully obvious to me and Bus [Cook, his agent] it’s not something they want to fix.”

It’s hard to get a good read on what the main issue is here. We know Cutler is upset, but does he have a right to be or is he just blowing things out of proportion? Could he stand to be a little more professional and stop acting like a baby or is McDaniels really sending him vibes that he doesn’t want him to be the Broncos’ QB next season?

Here’s my best guess at how we got to this point: Very soon after McDaniels was hired, he realized that Cutler wasn’t going to be his main guy. He wanted Matt Cassel, thought the team could acquire him and offered to trade Cutler as part of a deal to acquire him. But Cassel was dealt to KC and soon after that, the cat comes out of the bag that the Broncos had Cutler on the trade block. Instead of acting like a professional, Cutler threw a fit. Knowing that he had no better options at quarterback, McDaniels stated that the Broncos had no intentions on trading Cutler and that the two parties would have a meet and greet. But Cutler continued to carry on the public tantrum leading up to the meeting and McDaniels (who mind you never wanted Cutler in the first place) essentially makes a half-assed attempt to reconcile things with Cutler. And now Cutler wants to be traded.

Another major possibility is that Cutler is just so much of a prima dona that as soon as he heard that the Broncos were trying to trade him, he flipped out and immediately wanted out of Denver. The coach that drafted him (Mike Shanahan) was fired over the offseason and instead of starting fresh with McDaniels, he saw an opportunity to get out too and now is carrying on this act for the public.

The rift between Jay Cutler and the Broncos just got a little more interesting after the quarterback recently put his Denver house up for sale. Cutler’s parents got into the act too, putting their Denver house up for sale as well.

On Thursday, Broncos disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler put his primary residence in Parker up for sale, with a listing price of $2 million.

This decision for a lifestyle change comes amid the soap opera that has been dubbed, McJaygate.
Cutler has been upset since learning Feb. 28 he was part of trade talks that never materialized. Cutler believes he has information that his new coach Josh McDaniels aggressively tried to shop him, despite the coach’s statements to the contrary. Since then, Cutler has refused to come in and meet the coach. This Monday morning, McDaniels, the primary target of Cutler’s discontent, is meeting with the full team, at least as it stands now. All players have been told to attend.

And now Cutler puts his pad for sale. The easy assumption, however, may not be what it seems. An NFL source said Cutler has considered selling his home for more than a year. Why? Because Cutler is a 25-year-old bachelor who has come to realize his 7,516-square-foot home that sits on a 1 1/2-acre spread is too big for a guy who lives alone.

Cutler and his folks putting their houses on the market could have nothing to do with him being traded. But apparently Cutler met with Broncos’ head coach Josh McDaniels on Saturday and the interaction reportedly didn’t go too well. His name continues to be linked to trade rumors and with the draft coming up in just over a month, Cutler could still be dealt sometime this offseason.

The Broncos begin their voluntary offseason workouts on Monday and the team expects Cutler to be there. Maybe if he shows, it’ll prove that he’s going to be a professional about this situation, even though he’s still upset. Either way, “McJaygate� doesn’t appear like it’ll be settled anytime soon.

Fans in Minnesota, Detroit and Tampa have kept a close eye on the developing situation in Denver in hopes that the Broncos will eventually trade unhappy quarterback Jay Cutler. But I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were a Vikings, Lions or Bucs fan.

It’s highly unlikely that the Broncos will trade Cutler at this point, even with the situation apparently getting worse by the day. Cutler may be upset with the way new head coach Josh McDaniels entertained trade offers for him two weeks ago, but the fact of the matter is that even if Denver wanted to deal the quarterback, they don’t have a good enough backup plan at this point to follow through with it.

McDaniels claims that he listened to offers from the Patriots when it was reported that Denver, New England and Tampa Bay had talked about a three-team deal, but that’s only because Matt Cassel – McDaniels’ former QB in New England – was involved. Now that Cassel is set to become the Chiefs’ starting quarterback next season, it’s doubtful that the Broncos will move Cutler with no other intriguing options out there to take his place.

For those Lions, Vikings or Bucs fans that were hoping the Broncos still had Jay Cutler on the trade block, you can forget it because according to head coach Josh McDaniels the disgruntled quarterback will not be dealt.

“Let me be as clear as I can about this,� McDaniels said when reached at his office Tuesday afternoon. “We are not trading Jay Cutler — period.�

Let those words ring around the NFL, the Internet, the blogosphere, sports-talk radio. No matter how much trade talk there is regarding Cutler, it is not originating from Denver and, to the disappointment of many, it is not happening. In fact, further proof that Denver fully intends to keep Cutler is evidenced in its action. McDaniels and Cutler are scheduled to meet next week.

Now that McDaniels has made things clear on that, he must work on bridging the gap between he and Cutler that was created by the original trade talk. Cutler apparently refuses to sit down and talk with McDaniels right now, which is completely ridiculous. Cutler needs to buck up and realize that this is professional football and trades happen. It would also be wise for McDaniels to seize control and show a little faith in Cutler or else this situation will get worse before it gets better.

Or so says ESPN.com’s Gene Wojciechowski:

Will someone please give Jay Cutler his pacifier, hand him his favorite blankie and put him back in his crib for his afternoon nap? Because if he cries anymore about a trade that didn’t happen, we’ll have to check his Pampers.

Cutler is the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. At least for now he is.

Turns out the Broncos are/were shopping him. The three-way trade between the Broncos, New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t reach critical mass, but names (Cutler to the Bucs, Matt Cassel to the Broncos) and numbers (first- and fourth-round draft picks to the Patriots) were discussed.

But it didn’t happen. Repeat: didn’t happen.

So what if the Broncos considered proposals from the Bucs? Who cares whether they listened to an offer from the Detroit Lions? When you haven’t reached the playoffs since ’05, when you gag away a three-game division lead with three games left, you listen to everybody about anybody.

“If they were in fact trying to trade Jay Cutler, then I think that’s a situation that’s going to cause a very serious problem for the organization,” Cook huffed and puffed.

Why? Because Cutler’s precious feelings were hurt? Please.

The nontrade causes serious problems only if Cutler wants it that way. To whine about the Broncos’ kicking the tires on a trade accomplishes nothing. Especially from a guy with zero playoff appearances and a grand total of 37 NFL games.

Cutler has accomplished nothing in this league. He has pretty passing numbers, but so what? It’s time for him to do a Brooks and grow up. It’s time for him to spit out the pacifier.

I couldn’t agree more. If Cutler wants to cry about possibly being traded, then he should win something first. Sports are a business and trades happen within that business. Wojciechowski has it right – Cutler needs to grow up.