McD / Cutler mess (Merged)

[AC1]

These are extremely uncertain times for Denver Broncos players who once called Mike Shanahan their coach. And the trade talk surrounding quarterback Jay Cutler is only the tip of the iceberg that arrived in the Mile High City from New England in the form of new coach Josh McDaniels.

I've spent the past few days talking with people around the NFL and in Denver, and they describe an atmosphere of growing tension and anxiety among most members of the roster left over from the Shanahan regime.


That's hardly uncommon after a coaching change, but compared to countless transitions I've observed in 30 years of covering the NFL, this seems a bit rougher than others.

From everything I gather, McDaniels is wasting no time placing an emphatic stamp on the organization that things will be done far differently than in the past. The fact that the stamp bears a striking resemblance to the logo of the Patriots, McDaniels' previous employer, shouldn't come as a shock, yet it has been a shock to the systems of Broncos who generally operated in a setting that wasn't as tightly controlled or as -- how should we put this? -- frosty as the one guided by McDaniels' former boss, Bill Belichick.

I think some people allowed themselves to be fooled by the fact that McDaniels is only 32 and looks about 17 years younger than that. He obliterated the widely held notion that he was stepping into a virtual turn-key situation on offense by entertaining trade offers for Cutler, the Pro Bowl quarterback who guided an offense that ranked second overall and third in passing last season. Now Cutler is livid. Scheffler, who's as close with Cutler as any player on the team, characterized the quarterback as "hurt and upset."

Whether Cutler and McDaniels can establish even a minimal working relationship remains to be seen, but that could be a moot point if the quarterback is traded, which is a distinct possibility. Based on McDaniels' pursuit of Matt Cassel, whom he coached in New England, it's abundantly clear that he wants his own quarterback who will operate his low-risk, high-efficiency approach (which one doesn't readily associate with Cutler) his way.

Other Broncos also are casting a wary eye toward McDaniels and the program he's putting in place. Scheffler, who caught 89 passes the past two seasons, expressed concern about how little the tight end is used as a receiver in the Patriots' offense. And there's a general thought among several of Denver's offensive players that the new sheriff in town will try to fix what isn't broken.

"We were second in the NFL in yards, and you think you did a pretty good job and had a pretty good season on offense," Scheffler said. "To look forward to kind of coming in (for offseason workouts) and getting dissected is hard, but it's just part of the business. It's tough. It's a man's game."

The part in bold above is key. If we thought Shanahan's message had gotten stale after fourteen years, McDaniels may not even be respected and trusted from day one (okay, day two).

Most good coaches have the ability to modify their schemes somewhat to make the most of the personnel at their disposal. McDaniels so far is showing an inability to think for himself and trying too hard to be Belichick's mini-me.

Mike Tomlin came from a Tampa 2 system. When he got to Pittsburgh, he didn't trade Casey Hampton and ditch the 3-4. McDaniels would do well to take a leaf out of the book of the most successful young coach in the NFL today. Fix what's broken; don't break what's fixed.

[Cutler2007]

What I would love to see happen

Jay Cutler get on a flight tomorrow and come out to Denver...

"Just came by to pick up the new pages, if you have time to talk...great, if not, will see you next week."

Something like this, would go a long way into showing the new boss he is able to get past all this and make it about the team.

Oh, and leave Cook behind.

[JHoward]

But only one thing fellas......

I would kill to sit in on this meeting.

Look, it is safe to say that Cutler isn't going anywhere. Next year, he's our quarterback. I have got to hope that as Jay walks into the meeting, shakes McDaniel's hand and immediately says something about readiness to preform unhindered.

You know Cutler has a good understanding of the play book already, when those two talk football they can do great things together. These guys are going to do some strong things this year, our offense is going to be potent. That's why they will still have a fantastic relationship.

I am glad that Jay is coming in to meet with the Broncos brass next week but theres another issue that might piss Jay off as well (as if we need more drama). The team is trying to trade Tony Scheffler. Jay and Tony are boys so I wont be surprized if Jay complains about that as well.

[MindField]

*Sigh*

One last time...

It's not the diabetes. If it was something physical, they simply could fail Jay on a physical and/or just explain to him they don't feel he's up to the rigors of an NFL season.

The only reason why a proposed trade took place is because McDaniels saw an opportunity to bring in his guy from his system. That's it. That's the reason.

We're not talking about now...we are looking down the road.

Jay Cuter has three years left on his contract, but protocol suggests he is going to be up for an extension in another year or so.

If you figure he was extended for six or seven years, that puts him over ten for his career.

Some people think that things are going to change dramatically for Jay Cuitler physically in another three to four years. We don't know what kind of information the Broncos have about his prognosis, and certainly I don't know, but I seriously doubt he is going to have a typical franchise QB's longevity.
I could be wrong, but that is what I believe at the moment, and I think it is unlikely you will see Jay Cutler playing twelve years or so in the NFL.

[MindField]

It is true he removes it for games I have seen him say it before.Also the he would be lucky to get 10 years is bunk too.Wade Wilson played for 19 years in the NFL with 14 of them with type 1 diabetes.You look more like a jackass everytime you try to know *** your talkiing about.Congrats for spewing trash you are the first Bronco fan I have put on my ignore list.

Before I add you to my list here are a few notable People/Athletes with type 1
Arthur Ashe - Tennis - Wimbledon winner
Bobby Clarke - NHL - Philadelphia Flyers
James “Buster” Douglas - Heavy Weight Boxer
Kenny Duckett - NFL - New Orleans Saints
Curt Frasier - NHL - Chicago Black Hawks
Walt Frazier - * NBA - New York Knicks
Smokin’ Joe” Frazier - Boxing
Jonathan Hayes - NFL - Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs
Dave Hollins - 1993 Phillies World Series Third Baseman
James "Catfish" Hunter - MLB - Pitcher, Baseball Hall-of-Famer
Billie Jean King - Tennis
Adam Morrison - Basketball Player, Gonzaga University,NBA
Jackie Robinson - Baseball Player
Everson Walls - Football player
Ron Santo - MLB - Chicago Cubs legend



Wilson was entering his fifth season with Minnesota in 1986 when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He was 27 and not yet a starter for the Vikings. He played another 14 seasons for Minnesota, Atlanta, New Orleans, the Cowboys and Oakland. He's been an assistant coach in the NFL since 2000.

"I lost 20 pounds and was urinating all the time," Wilson said. "Those are the main symptoms I had. I didn't have the blurry vision or tingling in the fingers, but I lost 20 pounds, and friends would look at me and say, 'What's wrong with you?' "

Wilson's body stopped regulating blood sugar. His insulin-making cells were being destroyed. He was lethargic, but he never thought about diabetes because there was no family history of the disease.

His story was almost the same as Cutler's.

Well, excuse the hell out of me, ass****

BTW, nice list, but virtually none of those players actually played with that disease, most of them were diagnosed after they retired.

[Chicago-Broncofreak]

This is stupid. The guy doesn't even wear the pump during games. Check your facts before making a thread like this please.

And although Type 1 Diabetes is a serious concern, I am certain that Jay's management of it and the fact that it is so common will not pose any major problems for him for his career so long as he is conscientious about it.

[MindField]

This is stupid. The guy doesn't even wear the pump during games. Check your facts before making a thread like this please.

And although Type 1 Diabetes is a serious concern, I am certain that Jay's management of it and the fact that it is so common will not pose any major problems for him for his career so long as he is conscientious about it.

This isn't stupid, you are.

If you THINK for a second that the Broncos are not going to have concerns about a player they may be giving over $100 mil to, you are naive to say the least, and probably worse than that.

The Broncos did not draft Jay Cutler as a diabetic, he became one, and it absolutley IS a relevant financial concern, and if you think otherwise, you are in denial.

[Chicago-Broncofreak]

This isn't stupid, you are.

If you THINK for a second that the Broncos are not going to have concerns about a player they may be giving over $100 mil to, you are naive to say the least, and probably worse than that.

The Broncos did not draft Jay Cutler as a diabetic, he became one, and it absolutley IS a relevant financial concern, and if you think otherwise, you are in denial.

Drag up this post and say I told you so then that day that a diabetic player was just too expensive for the Broncos because of the costs associated with the diabetes treatment...

By the way, I called the thread stupid. You called ME stupid. See how adolescent escalation is idiotic?

Have a fantastic day...

[Dakotabroncofan]

This is NOT a vote of confidence for McDaniels.

Bowlen has a history of siding with players, outside of the Shanny era and he's taking a play out of the Reeves / Elway playbook...

I could care less what it is or isnt.This is great news.At this point i could care less who is right and who is wrong.I just want it fixed and move on.

[ebsoria]

Am I the only one who feels that using the phrase "ya know" or "you know" in conversation so often is like using the phrase "umm" and is a sign of a slow mind... or laziness? Not certain what it is.. but I hate when athletes or anyone do that. It's so hard to get a conversation done. In the past I've gotten frustrated and interupted with- "No, I don't know!" But that's just me...

[Hadez]

Got to go to work so do not have time to read all the replys.

An article (forgot where maybe Yahoo) and ESPN both said the Bucs initiated talks with the Broncos about trading Jay Cutler. So that part is true.


Now did the Broncos take that and start up talks with the Pats is what I wonder? Just listening is one thing but taking the offer they listened to and taking the next step that is a little more.

Anyways glad someone finally acted like an adult and got face to face about this to set aside all the rumors and bs. I think Graham for one realizes what this will do to a team that is pretty young, without leadership (I do not think Josh has met with the team yet), and in chaos after having lost the division, lost their head coach and now maybe loosin their QB.

Also Shef on NFL reports he spoke personally with Josh and he was firm in saying the broncos would not trade Cutler.

[broncofanatik]

If what the Immature new coach of the Broncos said is true then there is no story. But, there is a story. Some person or organization leaked that Jay Cutler was considered in a trade. The Broncos couldn't have leak that, because they said it never happened so there was nothing to leak.

Therefore, an outside person or team leaked this information to Jay and the press, which shows that McDaniels has to be a liar.

This makes no sense. All that was leaked was that there was a possible trade.

You haven't realized yet that all reporters want is a story? Of course if someone came to us and proposed a trade and a reporter got hold of it, they would post it regardless of what we said. Why do you think reporters said shanny was going to be KC head coach? Same reason, brings people to your site to read the news. Maybe he is lieing, maybe not. I don't know why people just jump on McD and call him a liar. It's like calling a witch hunt.

[broncofanatik]

No, it's just he - like me - is evaluating this situation logically and what makes the most sense.

Eh not really. Some of you people are so sure he is lieing you even said 100% sure he's a liar! No other solution!

Wether we point out why he might not be lieing (read up a few posts and there is a some great posts. Why would the vikings not be interested at all until now then? Why would they have gotten sage rosenfel? Why would the 49ers not be interested until now? The browns? Exactly no one knows for sure.

The confirmation bias holds 100% true to you and ravage and some others. Provide us with your proof and we will all change and believe you, until then you can only assume he is lieing.

[Champ>NFL]

Bronco Fans Do You RESENT Jay Cutlers Behavior?? Can he come back from it??

Im listening to Colin Cowherd and hes saying that Jay Would be GREAT in Cle. Hes saying that jays not a good fit in Denver becasue hes following Elway, he said he had a stronger arm than Elway and he has a bad attidtude, blah blah. He makes it seem like Denver fans have a grudge against him for these things. Like we havent Embraced Jay Cutler....

I dont think of him as following Elway Personally and i know for a FACT more Denver fans loved he said he had a stronger arm Than Elway more than they hated it.

Also the Attitude thing only pissed most of us off this week...

So i ask you guys myself do yuo RESENT Jay Cutler??...

[UberBroncoMan]

Why on earth would I resent the guy... he's the best QB we've had since Elway and the only one who realistically has a shot of producing as good as he did. He actually has better stats, less int's etc than Elway had in his first 3 seasons. He's a great fit in Denver because he actually doesn't give a crap about following in Elway's footsteps. He doesn't let that shadow bother him, and he's cocky enough to even say he's better than Elway with arm strength. That's the kind of QB we need here, not some pitiful "I'll never live up to expectations" guy. People talk about how Elway "won" in his first 3 seasons unlike Jay... guess what... Elway had a really solid defense backing him up.

You'd also be surprised to know that most people support Jay over Josh McDaniels. There was a poll over on OM and Jay cutler won 3.5 to 1 over Josh. If anything people resented how Josh handled this more than Jay. If you had to find out from a reporter calling your house in the morning that you almost got traded and were interviewed on the spot, odds are your "attitude" isn't going to be so happy... especially when Josh and the Broncos FO cut Jay and his agent off from any communication after the story broke. Jay could have handled it better, but Josh is the head coach and overall leader of the organization atm... and as such he needs to set forth a precedence of integrity, which he didn't do so well in this fiasco. A head coach who knew how to handle a situation like this would have told Jay what was going on behind closed door to begin with, and also would have kept Jay in the loop about what was going on after the story broke.

So to me there isn't anything to "come back from" except trying to mend his relationship with Josh and have a great future with the Broncos.