Buyer beware on Cutler

By John McMullen  |   Wednesday, April 01, 2009  |  Comments( 7 )

Denver Broncos
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It's usually not all that hard to pick a rooting interest in any conflict, be it personal, professional, political or in the world of sports.

The average person will gravitate toward one side for a plethora of reasons that can involve everything from family ties to patriotism to the color of a jersey.

In the Jay Cutler-Josh McDaniels fiasco, though, I find myself unable to pick a favorite.

Both sides are so utterly unlikable that I am rooting for Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen to hire Doc Brown to invent a time machine. Bowlen could first rev up the DeLorean and head back to 2006 and draft Haloti Ngata, Brodrick Bunkley or Chad Greenway instead of everyone's favorite petulant quarterback. After that, he could accelerate to 88 mph and head to this past Jan. 10, the day before the biggest mistake of his life -- hiring the immature and woefully unprepared McDaniels to coach his beloved Broncos.

McDaniels and Cutler remind me of an alcohol-fueled Las Vegas marriage. Both sides are just far too dumb to enter into any kind of partnership.

McDaniels stared to get the itch to "cheat" first with his "grass is always greener" mentality. Clearly a "system guy," the 32-year-old McDaniels learned nothing from the game's best coach, Bill Belichick, save how to cultivate his own ego.

Of course, Bowlen made the mistake of hiring McDaniels; thus, the former Patriots offensive coordinator had every right to look for players who could help him build a better team.

That said, if I went up to Bowlen with the thesis that Matt Cassel was a better option than Cutler at the quarterback position, I would likely be labeled a lunatic; meanwhile, McDaniels has a head coaching job. Despite his awful personnel skills and a ridiculous Jim Jones-like devotion to his system, if McDaniels truly thought Cassel was his best option, he had to go after him.

The real problem started when Kansas City trumped Denver and acquired Cassel. At that point, McDaniels should have switched gears, dropped back on defense and played damage control. He should have reassured his abnormally sensitive quarterback.

Instead, McDaniels decided to flex his muscle and stir the pot, ignoring the best interests of his new team by continuing to poke the bear, saying Cutler was "his starter" but that a trade could never be ruled out.

Cutler answered with the same kind of maturity that makes McDaniels look so competent. The No. 11 overall pick in the 2006 draft made it clear he was going to avoid the start of Denver's offseason program, and told his agent, Bus Cook, to request a trade.

Bowlen finally reached his breaking point after more than a week of the silent treatment.

"Numerous attempts to contact Jay Cutler in the last 10 days, both by head coach Josh McDaniels and myself, have been unsuccessful," Bowlen said. "A conversation with his agent earlier today clearly communicated and confirmed to us that Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos. We will begin discussions with other teams in an effort to accommodate his request to be traded."

There you have it -- an oncoming divorce because of irreconcilable differences.

McDaniels cheated on his new spouse with the first fetching prospect who came along, but Cassel ended up elsewhere; thus, the coach was forced to crawl back to Cutler with his tail between his legs.

However, hubris left McDaniels incapable of admitting fault and his painfully immature "bride" stomped his feet and demanded the divorce.

Long story short: These two idiots weren't ready for marriage. McDaniels is a long way away from being prepared to be an NFL coach and Cutler, despite his prodigious talent, doesn't have the mental makeup to be a successful starting quarterback.

Failure is virtually preordained for McDaniels. Rarely has an NFL coach started digging his own grave faster than Bowlen's faux pas.

But Cutler, despite his obvious faults, will have no shortage of suitors desperate for an answer at the quarterback position.

I have two words for all of them: Buyer beware.
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About John McMullen

John is the managing editor of The Phanatic Magazine, the assistant managing editor of The Sports Network and the co-host of the highly rated 'Johns on Sports' radio show on WTBQ in New York. Every Saturday from 6:30-9 p.m. (et) you can hear John along with his co-host, John Gottlieb, talk to the ...
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