Things to Do in Denver When You're Traded or NOT
Jay Cutler went drama queen on Saturday.
Matt Cassel is a Chief.
And, the Broncos front office has some ‘splaining to do.
A singular event, late Friday and into Saturday morning, has Bronco-land in an uproar that hasn’t been seen since Dan Reeves went and drafted Tommy Maddox in his continuous drama with John Elway. We all know how that ended.
We start with the facts – the things that everyone knows:
• The New England Patriots franchised Matt Cassel, after becoming confident that Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady will be ready to go at the beginning of the 2009 season after a devastating injury just minutes into the 2008 season.
• New England clearly shopped Cassel, who burst on to the scene in 2008, not having started a game since high school, after backing up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern Cal, and Brady in New England.
• It is quite clear that the suitors for Cassel were Detroit, Tampa Bay and Kansas City – all teams that desperately need a quarterback heading into 2009.
• It is clear that Detroit and Tampa Bay, but not Kansas City, called Denver, trying to use draft picks and Cassel as leverage to pry away Cutler from the Broncos.
• The Chiefs ultimately landed Cassel, and aging linebacker Mike Vrabel, for nothing more than a second-round pick.
• Cutler is pissed.
• The front office – most notably Josh McDaniels and Brian Xanders – have denied that they want to trade Cutler, and have, as far, acknowledged that they were inquired about the possibility.
That begets the speculation:
There have been so many conflicting reports in the last – by my count – 20 hours, that you have to take all of it with a grain of salt.
Late Saturday morning, word emerged that the Patriots were going to trade Cassel, and that they were going to trade him to the Chiefs. A plausible situation, as Scott Pioli had worked with Bill Belichick in building a dynasty in New England. The trade went down with fanfare in Kansas City, but not much more elsewhere, except when Adam Schefter at nfl.com reported that Denver had been contacted about proposals from Detroit and Tampa Bay for a ménage-a-trade.
Word spread like wildfire on Saturday afternoon, as more and more reports were issued from various news outlets around the country.
Schefter’s initial report mentioned that Cutler was not happy. A similar report from the Denver Post cited McDaniels and Xanders denying that they were going to trade, or that they were shopping Cutler, only that they had pondered and refused offers from both Tampa Bay and Detroit.
Cutler apparently spoke at length with the Denver Post, as they issued a lengthy story, using Cutler as the only source, that went into detail about what the quarterback believed was happening.
In that article, Cutler expressed his displeasure, and that he felt that he had been shopped, and that the Broncos wanted to trade him.
Meanwhile, Bus Cook, Cutler’s agent, offered up to Fox 31 that he had called the Broncos and that they were only contacted in the process, not that they were shopping him, but they refused to reveal if Cutler would be a Bronco in 2009.
Another internet report said that McDaniels was the mastermind behind the deal, but Xanders nixed it at the last moment, seemingly saying that McDaniels had more confidence in going forward with a player he was familiar with, rather than Cutler.
Subsequently, Sunday afternoon, a report emerged from ESPN that New England nixed the deal, strangely enough, that would have given them more draft picks and better compensation for a player they had just franchised.
However, another report Sunday afternoon had Belichick basically meddling with sources all over the country, and concocting a long, drawn-out scenario that would make the Bronco front office’s next few days a living hell.
Supposedly, Broncos brass was meeting with Cutler at some point in time. According to CBS 4 in Denver, that was some time today.
And now, Sunday night, Schefter is reporting that Cutler will not be on the trading block heading into the rest of the off season.
So, much-ado about nothing? Or, is this really a firestorm?
It’s certainly been an interesting 20 hours.
Originally Posted by Buff
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