over the next two years, cutler is due $6.7M. not per year - total. over the same time frame, schaub is due $18.1M (per keith's usually accurate salary cap projections). not sure beyond 2010 with schaub but cutler is due a roster bonus of $12M in 2011. but his base salary is low - he'll cost just $13.9M against the cap in the final year of his deal (less, i believe than cassel this year - at least, it's less than cassel's franchise #, which was north of $14M, iirc). meaning, 3 years of (the younger) cutler is going to cost you $20.6M while 2 years of schaub is going to cost you $18.1M. man, am i ever an idiot.....
This whole saga has been beyond crazy. Cutler is on his way out.. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-bowlencutler033109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Congratulations, Josh. Before your very first game, you've managed to alienate your Pro Bowl QB and run him out of town. Best of luck with Chris Simms this season!!
Cutler just might have run himself onto an 0-16 team. The coach probably could have handled it a bit better, but Jay Cutler is not some kind of untouchable superstar. He's an average but young QB who has a lot of potential but has never done a lot of winning in his college or pro career. If you believe in and can get Matt Cassell, especially given that you've coached him and know his better than most, you do it. Cutler acted like a whiny little b**** in this whole situation.
No one is untouchable...but players are drama queens about this stuff all the time...I don't think he should be surprised that the starting QB is pissed that the new coach is trying to trade him before his 4th season and coming off a Pro Bowl. I can't think of a situation more poorly managed than this, honestly. The end result is their pro bowl QB is on the way out of town...and they weren't able to pull the trigger on the QB they wanted. Cutler is a pro bowler. He was effective last season, beyond question. Denver sucked because their defense was the worst in the league. Their offense moved the ball. They missed on Cassell...they screwed up any sense of making up with Cutler by playing power games...by saying, "Cutler's our guy....but the only reason Cassell isn't our QB is because of bad timing on our part." That's poor management. The end result for the Broncos sucks. The head coach is responsible for the end result.
True - but players go through this kind of stuff here and there. And most of them grow up and get past it. Take Robert Horry for example and his failed trade. He didn't come back to Houston and whine about it - he came back and worked to prove the Rockets wrong. Players come up in trade discussions all the time - very few just take their ball and go home, as Cutler is doing. They certainly moved the ball, but Cutler was also 2nd in the league in INTs vs 7th in TDs. He was 16th in QB rating. He certainly had a lot put on his shoulders, but he wasn't outstanding. And as been the trend over his career, as the pressure mounted later in the season, his performance got worse. A big questionmark with Cutler over the last few years is how big of a competitor he is/was. His college career was marked by great performance in a low-pressure environment. His pro career has seen worse performances with higher pressure situations. And now at the first sign of adversity, he's basically been a quitter. He might have a lot of the basics (strong, accurate arm, etc) but the mental side doesn't seem to be the best. Finding a new QB that McDaniels can develop might not be the worst thing in the world for them.
I draw sharp distinctions between Robert Horry and Jay Cutler. Aside from Drew Brees, I can think of no young quarterback who's shown Pro Bowl play and has been even talked about with respect to being moved....and this was from a coach who is brand new. I can't think of one good comparison to this. Cutler's not a quitter. He played through the diabetes issue...he's never missed a game. I can agree that he played up the dramatics here...but the job of coaches and general managers is to deal with those issues, because they're everywhere. The idea that somehow Jay Cutler is a cancer to a team or something is so silly to me. Bottom line is I think the Broncos are worse today than they were when the season ended....and I think that's completely on the coaching staff. As an aside..what the hell are you doing messing with a young QB who has showed promise to trade for a more expensive QB when you're DEAD LAST in the league in defense??
You seem pretty big on playing this 'end result game'. The end result here is TAMPA BAY initiated trade these trade talks, Denver picked up the phone and listened. Denver did this on the off-chance this rumor not only got leaked to the media -AND- the unlikely event a professional athlete reacts the way Cutler did. Cutler's reaction to this scenario is beyond unusual, and that's placing aside the sheer fact that trade talks happen in the NFL quite regularly -- how many proposals actually get leaked? Point being: the odds played out in Denver's favor to, worst case scenario, pick up the phone and consider their options. Where McDaniels F'd up was initially denying these reports. Outside of that, there is absolutely nothing wrong from a management standpoint to simply pick up your phone and listen. As a GM, how is it smart to not consider all your options? And as I have posted countless times, the "power games" you speak of were all coming from the Cutler camp. He wanted Denver management to beg and grovel which they wisely refused to do. McDaniels/Bowlen made countless efforts to reach out to Cutler and essentially say, "Jay, can we put this behind us?" -- Cutler was reluctant to do so. Cutler was reluctant to do so because: (1) He's wanted out of Denver since the Shanahan/Bates firings, (2) He's PO'd that his status as a franchise QB doesn't come with any pull within the front offices, (3) He's had his home up for sale for quite some time. He's wanted out of Denver since day one and will twist this scenario to any means necessary to get out. If that isn't a display of "power", I don't know what is.
We've discussed this before, and I know you're take on it. But in no way is what you just posted the "end result." It may be the cause of the end result....but it's not the end result. But the end result is that Denver will be trading away their Pro Bowl QB and Chris Simms is their likely starter. Sweet job.
True - but it's also very rare that an even better young Pro-bowl caliber QB is available to trade for. Star players get mentioned in trade talks all the time. Usually it's not young pro-bowlish QBs just because there aren't better replacements out there. On the flipside, he's had his feelings hurt and now refuses to play for his team. Having a QB that refuses to play is pretty much a cancer. Yes, it's up to GMs and coaches to deal with those issues - but it's also up to players to live up to their responsibilities. The team did invest $40+ million in his afterall. A GM/coach can't deal with those issues if the player refuses to communicate. But they are hoping to be better a month from now than they are today, with a QB that actually will play for them. I don't know anything about their salary cap situation, but they may very well be able to upgrade at QB without hurting themselves in other areas. If they were planning to trade for Cassel, they were probably planning to trade away Cutler and get something in return - maybe that involved improving their defense, for example.
Right. At least we can agree it's important to acknowledge the facts and circumstances leading up to the end result then. Something some of the Cutler apologists refuse to do.
Good point. Also because the young guys are cheaper. As Cutler is to Cassell. I don't see where he refused to communicate, though. He did. He was lied to initially and told they didn't do it....then that they did. Then was told he was the QB....but wouldn't have been but for bad timing. I'm sorry, but that's handled so piss-poorly by management. He didn't start from the point where he refused to play...he met with them multiple times. These were the responses he got. He's 25 years old. I don't think he handled this perfectly, but I put the honus of this far more on the management than I do on the 25 year old QB. Good luck with that. I know some season ticket holders in Denver who are furious.
does a star player have more leeway to cry about being involved in a perfectly legitimate transaction. If the second string rb is involved in trade talks, he can't pout, but your young star qb can? that being said, I think if he cried but stayed, I wouldn't count it against him when evaluating how he may handle tough game situations.
No, but he has more leeway to be shocked and surprised. Young star QB's don't get traded. That's why this situation is so unique. Funny this is happening with Denver given Elway directing where he went in the draft.
