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Broncos to begin shopping quarterback Jay Cutler

April 1, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

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.

NFL

Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Jay Cutler Jay Cutler rumors Matthew Stafford Lions

2009 MLB Preview: #1 New York Yankees

March 31, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

Click Here to see Previews of all 30 MLB Teams

Offseason Movement: To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Bronx Bombers went out and threw gobs of money at top free agents after missing the postseason last year. They signed the biggest bat on the market in 1B Mark Teixeira, then added the two best arms in CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. The Yanks also added 1B/OF Nick Swisher via a trade with the White Sox, but they might ship him elsewhere since he’s drawing attention from clubs like the Pirates, Nationals and Braves. With Xavier Nady being penciled in at right fielder, Swisher might become expendable.

Top Prospect: Jesus Montero, C/1B
The 19-year old Montero is being groomed as a catcher but could make the move to one of the corner infield spots if he doesn’t clean up his footwork behind the dish. Said to have excellent strength and raw power, Montero could emerge as a future All-Star. He has a great arm and that’s why the Bombers envision him as a future catcher but regardless of his eventual position, Montero will be given the opportunity to play in the big leagues as long as he continues to work on his plate discipline and patience at the plate.

MLB

2009 MLB Predictions 2009 MLB Preview A-Rod A.J. Burnett AL East Predictions Alex Rodriguez CC Sabathia Chien-Ming Wang Cody Ransom Derek Jeter Hideki Matsui Jesus Montero Joba Chamberlain Jorge Posada Mark Teixeira MLB Preview 2009 Nick Swisher

“Friday Night Lights” gets two-season pickup!

March 31, 2009 / John Paulsen

It’s probably uncouth to use an exclamation point in the title of a blog post, but I don’t really care. DirecTV and NBC came to terms on an agreement that will give “Friday Night Lights” two 13-episode seasons.

DirecTV will get the first window on the episodes, to run commercial-free as the marquee property on its 101 Network channel, which is rapidly adding new and library product with appeal to TV aficionados from Hollywood’s majors (Daily Variety, March 23). This season, DirecTV ran the 13 episodes comprising “FNL’s” third season in the fall, while NBC’s run began in January.
Although the show has a loyal core aud, “FNL” has had a hard time drawing a broadcast net-sized aud. But the license fee NBC receives from DirecTV makes it financially feasible for the Peacock to continue with the show, which lends an aura of quality to the net’s sked at a time when NBC is struggling to rebuild its roster of scripted series.
It’s understood that DirecTV’s license fee covers just under half of “FNL’s” weekly production budget of a little more than $2 million per hour, which is modest by broadcast net standards.

I’ve been a die-hard “FNL” fan from the beginning and I figured that the show would probably be canceled after this season, but the ratings (while not strong for broadcast television) haven’t sunk below 3.8 million all season. It may not be huge, but the “FNL” fan base is loyal.

I was a little suspicious of this DirecTV/NBC relationship, but now it’s given one of my favorite shows a three-season extension. I also prefer the 13-episode season because, generally speaking, the shorter the season, the tighter the storylines.

No regrets.

Television

Friday Night Lights Friday Night Lights renewed Friday Night Lights season 4

Stafford won’t talk to shrink, so 49ers don’t want him

March 31, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

The 49ers are apparently concerned with quarterback prospect Matthew Stafford because he won’t open up to a psychologist about his parent’s divorce.

A report in the San Francisco Chronicle suggests Stafford was uncomfortable answering questions at the NFL combine last month from a team psychologist regarding his parents’ divorce.
Niners head coach Mike Singletary told KNBR (680 AM) in San Francisco this week that “if you’re going to look at drafting a guy in the first round, and you’re going to pay him millions of dollars, and asking him about a divorce about his parents, if that’s going to be an issue, uhhh, then you know what, maybe he doesn’t belong here.”
Stafford, a potential first-round draft pick, told the Detroit Free Press that the psychologist presumed Stafford had “unfinished business” about his parents’ split in high school.

I guess Singletary has a point in that, if a team is going to pay a prospect millions of dollars in the NFL, then it has a right to know as much about the player as possible. But this is a bit absurd. Stafford is only 21 years old – he’s still a kid. Him not wanting to open up to a stranger about a painful topic doesn’t mean he’s a bad egg or that he has psychological problems. It just means that he’d like to handle the manner in his own way and that doesn’t involve talking to a shrink.

Considering Singletary pulled his pants down in front of his team to make a point during a halftime speech last year, maybe he should be the one seeing a psychologist and not Stafford.

NFL, NFL Draft

2009 NFL Draft Matthew Stafford Mike Singletary Mike Singletary pulls pants down San Francisco 49ers