Tag: McJaygate

King: Broncos not entertaining trade offers for Cutler

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.

Jay CutlerHold 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.

Jay Cutler the Lion?

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.

I guess what it boils down to is how much the Lions value Stafford and Sanchez. If they have their hearts set on drafting a quarterback at No. 1, then pursing a trade for Cutler seems like a no-brainer. He can start now – Stafford and Sanchez can’t. But if they feel that left tackle is a bigger need and have players like Baylor’s Jason Smith and Virginia’s Eugene Monroe rated significantly higher than the other offensive tackle prospects, then their quarterback need could be placed on the backburner.

The Lions need everything, but quarterback, offensive tackle and middle linebacker are their three biggest question marks. Out of the three, offensive tackle and linebacker are deeper positions than quarterback. If Detroit swings a deal for Cutler, they could still get a good offensive tackle or linebacker with their No. 20 pick, as well as with their second and third round selections. (Another possibility is the Lions could trade the No. 20 pick and maybe a third rounder for Cutler if they feel as though giving up the No. 1 pick would be too steep.)

As for Denver, head coach Josh McDaniels has already stated that the team has no intentions of trading Cutler. But the situation seems to be getting much worse and maybe soon the Broncos won’t have a choice but to seek out a trade. But obviously McDaniels would have to feel that either Stafford or Sanchez are better fits for his offense then Cutler is. It wouldn’t make any sense to give up a young starting quarterback to get the No. 1 pick if there isn’t a prospect that McDaniels doesn’t believe that he can develop.

Jay Cutler asks Broncos to trade him

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.

Jay Cutler puts Denver home up for sale

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.