Bus Cook (SI.com photo)

Don Banks has a terrific article on SI.com discussing the storied history of Jay Cutler‘s agent Bus Cook. After destroying the relationships that veteran QB’s Steve McNair and Brett Favre had with their former teams, Cooks appears to be the mastermind behind the current fiasco facing the Broncos. Take a look:

“Bus has a pattern here with this sort of thing,” one veteran NFL general manager told me Monday afternoon. “And he’s been successful with it before. What you have here is an agent trying to dictate the position of an entire franchise. He sees an opportunity, because he knows [the Broncos] are vulnerable to pressure. They’ve got a new, 32-year-old head coach [Josh McDaniels], a new young general manager [Brian Xanders], and an owner in Pat Bowlen who has only recently re-engaged in the decision-making of his team.

“Bus is turning up the heat because he knows there has been a tremendous amount of change going on there in Denver. He’s trying to break the organization, break the ownership, now that it’s just Bowlen and these two young guys. There are new people in Denver and they exposed themselves with the dabbling they did [in trade talks], and now they’ve got an agent trying to make it as miserable as he can for them. He’s creating some pressure through the media, and trying to see how strong these three are going to be. Will they sit there and be able to take the heat? Something like this can bring an organization to its knees.”

Indeed, the Broncos organization has been brought to its knees. Three months ago we had a Pro Bowl quarterback and a Hall of Fame coach. Now we have a royal, royal mess. This GM is right – Bus Cook has played the antagonist in this and plenty other messes.

Thanks for the tip dee!

Cooking up trouble: Cutler’s agent has shaky history with QB clients [Sports Illustrated]

Bus Cook is in Buffalo according to PFT, and there’s a lot of speculation of the nature of his trip. Some believe that it’s a Jay Cutler for Trent Edwards deal, and some believe it’s about Tony Scheffler. I would go with the latter. The Bills are in a desperate need for a tight end and they could shell out for Tony. Scheffler does not have a big role in Josh McDaniels’ offense. That’s just part of the game. There is no reason for Denver to pay Scheffler who will not excel to his potential, even though it almost feels like they currently do. The draft is the best way to build a team and having an abundance of picks this year will be a great start to improving a team for hopefully years to come. Let’s hope that McDaniels brought over some of that New England draft magic.

In my opinion Scheffler will be gone before we know it and it’s a smart move. The real question is what will Denver recieve for a Scheffler trade? Cross your fingers for a second rounder.

UPDATED: According to the Buffalo News Cook was not in Buffalo on Monday, he was at his office in Mississippi. (Ian.)

Young & Putzier

Amidst franchise-altering turmoil, the duo of Head Coach Josh McDaniels and Brian Xanders continue to sign free agents and try to improve the team. On Friday, they signed free agent offensive guard Scott Young.  Young has spent time with both the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns.  On Monday, the team brought back tight end Jeb Putzier, who spent the first four years of his career and the last two games of 2008 with the Broncos.

With Tony Scheffler trade rumors swirling and the tight end missing voluntary workouts, bringing back Putzier makes a lot of sense. At least the head honchos are continuing to work on improving this team while all hell breaks loose. Press releases after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Josh McDaniels (AP Photo)

Saying he’ll “take care of it,” new Denver Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels had this to say regarding the Jay Cutler situation on the eve of the first team meeting under his tenure:

“I would like to talk to Jay before we go on and start to discuss some other type of alternative. In the last couple weeks, we’ve been all about trying to communicate and resolve his unhappiness with what happened — which we understand — and that’s been our direction.”

A glimmer of hope on the horizon? The Broncos won’t talk trade until they talk to Cutler again. I have my doubts. If a conference call and a face-to-face meeting didn’t take care of it already, what is there left to say?

McDaniels: I’ll take care of it [Denver Post]

Josh McDaniels (Reuters photo)

The Jay Cutler saga isn’t the only questionable move under Josh McDaniels‘ short tenure. As CBS4 Denver’s Reggie Rivers reports, the fans aren’t alone in second-guessing this new coach’s motives.

Although the rift with Cutler is the issue that has drawn the most public attention, I’ve spoken to several Broncos players who believe that McDaniels sabotaged his credibility in the locker room when he cut long-snapper Mike Leach and signed former Patriots long-snapper Lonnie Paxton to a $2 million contract.

Leach has proven to be among the most reliable snappers in the NFL, and replacing him seemed completely unnecessary and out of step with the message that a new coach should be sending to his team.

The players who were drafted or signed by the previous coach want to believe that the new coach will judge them based on their ability to perform on the field. But when McDaniels got rid of Leach it sent a very clear message that no matter how well the veterans performed, the new coach would cut them and pay more money to get players with whom he was more familiar.

There’s an eerie parallel between the Leech-Paxton situation and the Cutler-Cassel fiasco. In both cases, our new coach was willing to move a talented player at a position that didn’t need to be addressed just to get a player with whom he was more familiar. Would you play for a coach like that?

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.” Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Jay Cutler (Getty Images)

CBS4 in Denver has reported that Jay Cutler is no longer in Denver after meeting face-to-face with his agent and Broncos officials.

Cutler will not be attending Monday’s voluntary team workout. Sources tell CBS4 he has told the Broncos to trade him.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Cutler stated:

“At the end of the meeting, [Josh McDaniels] 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.”

McDaniels offers this translation:

“Again, I think that’s been a pattern. I couldn’t get [Cutler] to talk to me for two weeks or to talk to Mr. Bowlen. Then when he came here this weekend, we couldn’t get a one-on-one meeting, just me and him alone. He wanted Bus in there, so I had Brian sit in, too. And it was the four of us. There wasn’t any yelling, none of that. I can’t believe we get to a totally different [interpretation].

“It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances that has cropped up, a potential distraction and we’ve done our best to limit that. The main message I want to get out is that we’re excited to start our offseason program [Monday]. It’s an exciting time for us.”

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Per CBS4 Denver (I know, It’s not Adam Schefter) Jay Cutler and Tony Scheffler will not show up to the first team meeting. Early this weekend Josh McDaniels and Cutler sat down and talked face to face but apparently it just made the situation worse. Actually according to Mike Klis (again, not Adam Schefter), both McDaniels and Cutler “exchanged words.” The article quotes Pat Bowlen and further elaborates,

“I’m very disappointed,” Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said Sunday. “I’m disappointed in the whole picture, not just disappointed that we might lose our star quarterback.”

Asked to clarify, Bowlen said he is steadfastly supporting his new coach and his disappointment lies in the way Cutler has handled the situation.

Jay Cutler and Tony Scheffler are both represented by agent Bus Cook. 

Monday could be a sad day for Denver fans and a happy one for Bus Cook.

Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal Chargers post game

At least that’s what Mike Klis says.  Hopefully it’s the beginning of the end in the Cutler/McDaniels soap opera.  Klis has stated in the Denver Post that the frenzy regarding Jay Cutler’s home sale is much to do about nothing.  Similar reports say that Cutler has been planning on selling the 7500sq ft home for the six months and will make his downtown Denver penthouse the main residence.  Klis’ source close to Jay is saying that “he will more than likely attend” McDaniel’s first team meeting this coming Monday.  Here’s to the drama ending so we can continue on with offseason as it should be.

UPDATE: Jenkins ran a 4.47 low and a 4.52 high at his pro day and his private workout is moved to the middle of next week, per SportingNews.com. I’m certain the two are unrelated. Denver will still be the first to get a crack at Jenkins.

According to SportingNews.com Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins’ first private workout will be with the Denver Broncos next Friday some time in the middle of next week. Also according to an interview Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji said he also has a private workout with Denver on Friday March 20th. According to PFT Connecticut’s running back Donald Brown will have his own workout come March 24th, the day before his pro day. Brown would be the second running back to workout for the Broncos. Small christian college Liberty’s Rashad Jennings worked out for Denver just last Sunday, March 8th.

The Draft is a little over a month away, it is good to see Denver checking out the top prospects available within their reach, that being Raji and Jenkins. It is no surprise to anyone if Raji falls the Broncos would be foolish not to select him. Now the prospect of Jenkins as a first rounder for Denver would make a statement. Perhaps Mike Nolan isn’t exactly planning for an antique secondary after all. McDaniels giving Brown and Jennings a workout causes some intrigue as well. All in all this is a smart move regardless of the level of interest. It’s good to see the front office is on the ball with this.

Here’s a quick synopsis of these players. Click here to read the rest of this entry »