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Published on 03/16/2009 at Mon Mar 16 11:27.
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Josh McDaniels’ Gross Mismanagement has Destroyed the Broncos Franchise

Posted Mon Mar 16th by

Jay Cutler (Getty Images)

Jay Cutler (Getty Images)

Jay Cutler has requested a trade. Somebody pinch me, I think I’ve died and gone to hell.

Who’s to blame? Woody Paige makes a lot of great points in his latest piece for the Denver Post, none more so than this: there’s plenty of blame to go around. Owner, coach, player and agent all share the blame in this massive disaster in Denver. And in the end, everyone loses.

But Josh McDaniels has shown that he is grossly under-prepared to manage a professional football franchise. Blame the agent all you want; he was doing his job. Both player and agent will come out much richer for it.

If only McDaniels had done his. McDaniels’ job includes preparing for agent-player-drama and dousing the flames before the smoke even starts. Cutler’s agent Bus Cook took this silly putty of a rookie coach in his hands and twisted him, turned him, and shaped him into a Rocky Mountain punchline. Then he left the Denver Broncos with the mess.

McDaniels should have seen this coming. The fans did. He had every opportunity to make it right.

And all it took was four little words: “Jay, you’re my guy.”

The coach couldn’t, or wouldn’t, say those words. His foolish pride wouldn’t let him. He was more concerned with sending a message that he – and let’s not joke that it’s Pat Bowlen – runs the show.

This is the show you want to pride yourself in running, Josh McDaniels?

Now the Broncos are faced with a no-win situation. There is no way Jay Cutler is a Bronco on opening day 2009. Even if the Broncos sit on Cutler and ignore his trade request, the rift is too great and the risk along with it for the Broncos to take their chances with #6 this season. If things go south – and who doesn’t believe they would – McD would have to bench Jay-C, his stock would fall, and the Broncos would be left trading him for much less

No, Cutler will be traded. There’s no escaping that now. And while everyone has played a part in this ridiculous drama, it was McDaniels’ job to fix it. He failed. The Broncos – and more so, the fans – will pay the price. We’ll start over in 2010 with a new coach and have to refresh this franchise. The pieces were in place to win now — now it’s a rebuilding process that will take at least two or three seasons.

And the Broncos are left looking for the next John Elway again.

Josh McDaniels: Dead Man Walking.

Who is most to blame for the Jay Cutler trade situation?

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  • ryan

    Uh oh Kyle, Mr. East is going to want to beat you with a tire iron for putting any blame on McDaniels (I kid). I say lets just give a Jay a Big Ben-like contract and just move on with life. We have to bright of a future to let this thing get blown up.

  • (stuck in) raiderland

    Jesus H. Kee-rist !!!! Note to McDaniels: Just because the team parts ways with Shanny, it doesn’t mean they hired you to do your worst friggin’ Al Davis impersonation.
    Very, very bad day. My SMC Gaels don’t make the tourney, then the internet tells me my football team is falling apart at the seams.

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    Kyle,

    While I also blame everyone involved, my chief blame goes to Pat Bowlen, who could have picked up a Defensive-minded coach and kept Jeremy Bates and our VERY good offense while fixing the TERRIBLE defense. Now, we have a crisis to fix on BOTH sides of the ball… that is squarely Pat’s fault.

    Also… did you notice the Josh quote in one of the Denver Post articles that stated that Pat Bowlen didn’t even KNOW they were talking about trading Cutler until after the fact?!

    “We were contacted multiple times about different scenarios. Some of the scenarios we discussed, and we did take part in those conversations. Nothing ever got to the point where we were going to be active on anything. We never went to Mr. (Pat) Bowlen with any scenario that was presented. And nothing ever happened. ” — Josh McDaniels on the Matt Cassel trade talks.

    Thoughts?!

  • http://merlinofchaos.livejournal.com E. Halsey Miles

    ryan: I respectfully disagree with Mr. East on this one. I don’t think it’s fair to say that a team first mentality can happen until after the team has proven itself to you. Team first only works when the team does right by its players. Otherwise, the team breeds a me-first mentality. And McDaniels has done that.

    This isn’t done. If we trade Cutler, it will affect everyone in the locker room. Cutler will get a better deal, Cook will get his better deal, the Broncos will get shafted and plunge deeper into mediocrity. Our team is currently on track to become a laughingstock as bad as the Raiders, and that just makes me sick.

    You can blame a 25 year old quarterback if you want, but I just don’t feel it. Cutler has a right to have some ego, and for those who think he’s an undisciplined schmuck, you’re not paying attention. He has handled his diabetes amazingly and that requires fantastic discipline.

    This is going to be a long, long season, I’m afraid.

  • http://www.search-this.com mark

    Caption contest for the McDaniels photo above: Who has two thumbs and destroyed the Broncos? This guy!

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    …it just sounds to me like this Mini-Billy coach of ours is more interested in puffing up his chest and declaring himself the ruler than building a team in Denver.

  • http://www.dbaumgartner.com daveb

    How exactly do you “fix it” when the player won’t sit down without his agent (who has only one goal)? And hasn’t McD already said, “Jay, your’e my guy?” Starting to sound more and more like both sides would rather part ways. Everyohne has screwed this up…nobody shares more blame than another.

  • http://birty.blogspot.com mikebirty

    I’m going all posh when I am apportioning blame:

    “Where be these enemies? Capulet, Montague, see what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love. And I, for winking at your discords, too have lost a brace of kinsmen. All are punished”

  • NathanH

    I love this site and all you guys do to make it interesting, but I completely disagree and think this is WAY wrong. This is BRONCOtalk, not Cutlertalk. We’re here because we love the Broncos, Jay is the one saying he doesn’t want to be a part of it. We told him he’s our guy, we just told him the reality that anyone, even Tom Brady could be traded. Cutler screwed himself by acting like an immature WR sans TO or Ocho,, and thats the last thing I want out of my QB. He has all the talent in the world, but if all he wants to use it for is to get money stick him in the worst possible situation and let his ass drown. I’ve lost so much respect for Jay over the last couple days. He’s so damn talented, but with an attitude that he’s shown, he’s clearly no NFL great.

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    Destroyed the Bronco Organization? Thats a little dramatic I think… Jay will soon be gone, but I think we will be alright. I would like to get Quinn if we do trade him, but there is a slim possibility that they work it out? … slim …

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    I was the #10 poster on this tread… and Brady Quinn is #10 … :| a sign?

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    Mikebirty, you and Will are dead right…. “all are punished”

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    Kyle,

    McD may have lit the fire on this situation, but Bus COOK is pumping gas on it. You cannot solely blame one person for this mess. All parties are responsible.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOmSzYXFGG8 SweepAnd Mopp

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOmSzYXFGG8

    I don’t take Jay’s concerns very seriously. You’re a replaceable part of a machine that will tear you up and spit you out. Good luck Jay.

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    Kenny Peterson’s opinion of that badass McD

    As for what McDaniels talked about, Peterson said, “Just his philosophy of how he’s going to conduct things and what he expects of us as players. Pretty much the basics. He’s the head coach. He could be 20, 40, 50, 60 years old, he’s the head coach, and he’s going to get the respect. He’s very methodical, very articulate. I have nothing but respect for him.”

    McD told the player’s he would take care of the Cutler issue, I love it. I love his attitude, there’s going to be no pouting allowed in Denver this year, come on guys Cutler is the past, lets all move forward.

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    nathan/dee…

    I think what Kyle and I are both struggling with is the fact that the broncos WE knew (and loved) have changed into something we’re totally unfamiliar with.

    Pat Bowlen (with Shanahan’s help) made this team one of the best organizations in pro-sports… Now, we see that organization spinning out of control and on the verge of a reboot that will create some sort of cheap New England copy-cat ball club…

    I, for one, am not interested in cheering for New England – West.

  • jcampb72

    I thought McD was trying to make this team better?

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    P.S. Kenny Peterson’s comments only make me think that McD is SO insecure that he feels the need to bring up his age and re-enforce the fact that he will ‘get the respect’ deserves.

    I think veteran players are going to see through that and realize that respected coaches don’t have to DEMAND respect… they get it because they earned it.

  • J Baker

    McDaniels has screwed this up all on his own. I understand listening to possible scenarios from other teams. Every player has a price tag on them and if McD could have gotten ten first round picks (hypothetically) for Cutler he would have done it. Anybody would have done it. If the deal weighs in your favor then any player is dealable. However, the deal was not good enough, McD didn’t go for it, and he still did not reassure Cutler that he is/was the “the guy”. Cutler is by far a better quarterback than Cassell but he jumped to conclusions too quickly. He probably thought he would be traded straight up one for one with Cassell which wasn’t the case. McD is a rookie headcoach that let the label go to his head. Maybe he thinks he is the cream of the crop after being in NE all those years. I personally wouldn’t have picked him as head coach just because of the arrogance of the NE staff. Now Cutler will definitely not play for us whether he is on the team or not and we’re stuck looking for another QB. It may have to be Simms as our starter for awhile. How long will that last, Simms gets hit once and he’s out for the season. If I had to pick up a QB immediately, I would probably go after Leftwitch to fill the void for the time being. What do you think?

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    Jonathan Douglas

    My responsive to that would be, what did you think was going to happen when they fired Shanny? The old Broncos are dead… they’re not coming back … These new Broncos are going to be in the vision that badass Mcd wants to them be in. Fans will have to buy in, or I dont know. I’m a Denver Bronco Fan and I’m going to give him a chance, rather than fire him before we’ve played a single game.

    Also age has nothing to do with it JD, the players want to win and if McD gets this team to win than he’ll get the respect anyways.

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    *response,

  • Richard

    McD’s biggest problem is a lack of experience that Buzz Crook is trying to use to his advantage. Cutler is either 1: part of a conspiricy to get a BIG NEW CONTRACT, or 2; he is a complete moron being manipulated by his evil agent. I don’t for a minute think he’s a moron. Should there be no resolution to the PROBLEM, let’s inform him that we will sit him on the bench for a season. That would piss him off more than anything. Then we can trade his ass and contract with two years remaining. Think he might have a change of heart if he knew that was in his future? No playing time, no new city, no big payday, no incentives, no trades, and if he bitches suspend him from the team.

  • Dave

    I for one have turned on Cutler. McDaniels is far from blameless, but Cutler needs to take his panties off or we get rid of him. He hasn’t don’t anything in this league to warrant acting like such a baby. Bye bye.

  • http://BroncoTalk.net Mr.East

    Kyle, I love you man… but I completely disagree. This is all Jay Cutler’s fault. McDaniels made it clear that he had no intention on trading him and Cutler continued to freak out. All of Cutler’s statements are highly flawed. He wouldn’t talk to anyone and expects McDaniels to kiss his ass? I don’t think so. I applaud McDaniels for drawing the line in the sand. Cutler wants the money, he doesn’t want to be a Bronco, he’s never really had any emotional ties to this city.

    Denver will never find another John Elway, thats a fact, but they world is not a bout Quarterbacks. Someone needs to tell Jay Cutler that.

  • http://BroncoTalk.net Mr.East

    JD – I don’t get the insecure part of K-Pete’s statement at all. This is a football team not a nursery.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    I love you too. We respectfully disagree. Drawing a line in the sand became more important than winning football games.

    Win. Football. Games.

  • jcampb72

    Its amateur hour in Dove Valley.

  • http://BroncoTalk.net Mr.East

    Drawing a line in the sand wins football games. Just ask Dallas, they wish that would have happened sooner.

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    I’m with Mr East , its nothing personal against Cutler, but the Team is greater than any individual on it…. and I love McD’s stance … thats why I think hes a badass, if Shanny was here Cutler would have his new contract in hand already.

    Note: I still love Shanny and was mad at his release, but he was in love with our QB which would most likely cloud his judgement in how he dealt with him.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Did dee just say he loved Shanny?

  • KMA

    Mr. East, I gotta agree, between Cutler and Cook they wanted to bring this whole situation to this level. Why did Cook not allow Jay and McD to sit down together ALONE? Why does McD keep insisting that he took calls only and did not place calls for Cassell? Why was Jay not returning Calls to McD and X when they were trying to reach out? Come on, this is Cook the agent whispreing in the ear of the QB who, I totally agree with Mr. East here, doesn’t really exude the Orange and Blue. Hell Brian Dawkins in a month of being on the Denver payroll, has said more complimentary things about the Mile High City than Cutler and Dawkins is Mr. Philly according to Eagles fans. I just never feel like Cutler is invested in Denver the way former players were and in some cases are.
    Time to move on, Cutler to the Lions for #20 this year, and a 1st round next year. Go get Jeff Garcia, no he’ s not Elway, who is? But he’ll win you some games and you get Simms and Garcia winning some games and an improved defense keeping us in games for a change. and Come October when we are sitting at 3-3, people aren’t too worries about McD other than will he call the right plays this week?

  • Richard

    Nobody wins football games without discipline, and McD has the task of enforcing it. He acknowledged the trade talks, Cutler is either impossibly immature or hes looking for a payday if he can’t or won’t accept that statement. THe carrot has been tried, but Cutler won’t even talk to McD without Buzz Crook being present? Whats Cutler afraid of? McD gonna beat him up? Trade him while they speak? Time to let the boy qb know what they can drag his ass through should he continue to be a JERK. This Cancer can spread quickly and it needs to be contained and/or removed.

    And while we’re at it whats the deal with Sheffler? The rumors of his being on the trading block show up at the same time, from the same “source close to the player” and he’s holding out too? Odd he has the same agent as Cutler. what a coincidence.

    How come no one else on the team is having a problem with the new coach?

  • KMA

    Richard, great point about Scheff! I forgot about that as well.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Richard, word is a lot of players don’t trust our new coach.

    http://broncotalk.net/2009/03/has-mcdaniels-lost-the-locker-room/

  • Kawike

    Admitedly, I think McD did get this whole thing started by letting news of the trade talks even reach public ears. But he has done every reasonable thing that he can to try to mend this situation. At this point, Jay and Bus are causing all the problems whether Jay thinks he is being victimized or not. Whatever the case, Jay needs to clean up his act quick if he wants to have anything resembling a career in this league. If he doesn’t, he’ll just be another laughing stock that gives football in general a bad name. Trade him now while people think he won’t mess up their organizations too.

  • Richard

    Kyle has there been any public statements about other players? I have’nt heard of any. I would expect that the other players don’t know the man and that would make them somewhat insecure, but that doesn’t mean they don’t trust him.

  • http://www.dbaumgartner.com daveb

    Kyle: “…several Broncos players…” turns into “…a lot of players…”???? Come one now, this isn’t ESPN. This site is better than that!

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    It’s all hearsay (sp?) anyway daveb. No one will come out and say it. Sorry if I exaggerated a bit, although these types of things spread like wildfire in a locker room.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Then again, “several” and “a lot” are almost synonymous, aren’t they?

  • champ2203

    yea josh has done it all, everything but tell jay that he tried to trade him. To be honest I think thats all it would have taken to stop this BS. Big man on campus has to pull a hoody belicheck and deny everything like spygate. It’s his story and he’s sticking to it. Well Cutler called him out on it and now Josh screwed himself and all of us. Bowlen wants to be all in front of the cameras and hold press confrences when he ” terminated” shanahan. But he hibernates for 3 1/2 weeks during this whole fiasco until he realized he now has to sleep in the bed he’s made and absolutly has to back Mc D. because he hired this clown. You all on here can back whoever you want but just know Jay is our best shot at winning not Josh with an average QB and (maybe at best) an average Defense. And NONE of this would be happening if this dirtbag wouldn’t have been involved in, lied about, and denied entertaining trade talks. What a POS.

  • David

    What in the hell was the new regime thinking when they wanted to bring in Matt Cassel? Where was the owner when all this was going down? I am saddened to think that an owner of Mr. Bowlen’s talent would allow or even consider such a trade. Cut off your nose in spite of your face? Jay Cutler is the best quarterback since John Elway. I don’t think Matt Cassel holds a candle to either of them.

  • Panamanian Bronco

    I think we should kick both of them:
    I don’t like Cutler’s attitude, he has a teenager maturity.
    I hate most of the decisions McDaniels is making on the team.

    We should hire Spagnuolo since the begining. We had a solid offence we only needed to build the defence.
    Now Mc Moron destroy the offence and we don’t have anything.
    This is gonna be a very long season.

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    Kyle

    Dont even go there, I always loved Shanny , just because I support Mcd doesnt mean I am still not pissed that they let him go. IF you go back historically thru this site you will see that I always supported him, but I realize his time is up and his vision of the broncos has been or is in the process of being killed.

  • John B

    The biggest problem I have is that McD didn’t respect what was already in place in Denver. He wanted his own little simfootball game and he was going to run it his way no matter what the consequences and he lied. You dont come into your first head coaching job, attack the most important position/player on the team and leave a trail of lies because you wanted your guy in here and it fell apart. Another thing that scares me is that i think Cassel is overrated and not even close to the potential we have in Cutler and Mcd tried to sneak him in. This will send Denver into a tailspin all because a cocky young snot nosed rookie coach is puffing his chest out! But what did we expect to come out of New England under the tutaledge (spellcheck) of GOD himself (Belichek) (thats Sarcasm)

  • ryan

    I still wish someone would explain to me how in a QB oriented league, you can trade arguably the most promising QB in the NFL. I would love to hear who those are so eager to trade Cutler would rather have that is in the NFL right now, outside of Brady and Manning? WHO?

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Those are literally the only two ryan. Maybe Drew Brees.

    And even then, they have several years on Cutler and I’d hesitate making that deal. McD just doesn’t get it.

  • David Kircus Made My Tuna Melt Sub

    Cutler hasn’t even BEEN to the playoffs. Football about about winning superbowls.

    Tom Brady
    Peyton Manning
    Drew Brees
    Eli Manning
    Big Ben
    Philip (GASP!) Rivers
    Kurt Warner

    All better than Cutler. Football is about winning.

    This dispute is about money pure and simple. Cutler/Cook want Jay to become the highest paid Quarterback in NFL history based upon POTENTIAL not production.

    If I was McDaniels I would tell Cutler that I am not going to trade him and he can either A) play for me or B) sit out the season and destroy his ability to sign the mega contract that he is looking for.

  • ko

    Really? We are trading our quarter back that we built our offense around? The problem was not Cutler last season but the DEFENSE. If Cutler leaves because of a rookie coach I will no longer be a Broncos fan

  • champ2203

    Football is all about winning? Well give him the tools on the defensive side of that ball to do so. All better than Cutler? Maybe the older QB’s on your list like peyton, Brady ,Drew and Kurt because of how long they’ve been in the league, but big ben is a winner because of his Defense plain and simple. If he was playing with a Defense like Denvers had he might not even be starting. The others on your list no way their better than jay. All their defenses have been better than the ones cutlers’s had. Thats how you get to the playoffs. And you can’t produce wins when the other D knows your throwing every down because your down by 20 pts. And I’m sure Jay will sit on the bench and collect a check ,not get injured and move on somewhere else(wherever shanahan ends up), he’s not going to lose his appeal to the teams with no QB because he’s not the bad guy.Mcdaniels is the idiot with a pro bowler on the bench. Jay will be fine either way.

  • http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3983805 WhidbeyBronco

    Good work Kyle, I can always count on you for good sense! Dee, most of the time I read your posts out of respect for the other (worthy) side of most issues… East? yikes! Way out of touch. I’ll have to start ignoring your posts after one too many posts thew likes of “this is all Jay Cutler’s fault” You’d make one hell of a marriage counselor! BTW check the poll results for a glimpse into the pulse of your average rabid fan.

    I’m up for McDaniels fixing things and our young team, coach & Cutler included, to continue growing up!

    Go Broncos
    !!!

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