Cutler Requests Trade; Lions Want Him

Jay Cutler has taken the on-going unpleasantness to a new level by formally asking the Broncos to trade him.  The move comes in the wake of a meeting between Cutler and coach Josh McDaniels that, instead of smoothing out the hard feelings between the two as intended, actually inflamed the situation more.  Here is what Cutler had to say about it all:

"I went in there with every intention of solving the issue, being a Bronco, moving forward as a Bronco. We weren’t in there but about 20 minutes, [McDaniels] did most of the talking and as far as I’m concerned, he made it clear he wants his own guy. He admitted he wanted Matt Cassel because he said he has raised him up from the ground as a quarterback. He said he wasn’t sorry about it. He made it clear that he could still entertain trading me because, as he put it, he’ll do whatever he feels is in the best interest of the organization.At the end of the meeting, he 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. 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."

Actually Jay, I’m sure they do want to fix it…and you’ve sort of guaranteed that the only way to do so is by trading you.  I’m actually starting to sour a little bit on the idea of the Vikings pursuing this guy – he seems like more of a bitch than what you would want your starting quarterback to be, and frankly, offensive leadership is what our team needs more than anything.  Is a big arm enough?  Does Cutler have it between the ears to take a team deep into the playoffs?

If the Vikings do go after Cutler, they will have plenty of competition, including – probably – two other teams in their own division.  So far, Mlive.com’s Tom Kowalski has confirmed that the Lions will discuss a trade…and you have to believe the Bears would be in on him too, unless they’d prefer to keep their streak of mediocre signal callers intact.  The question is, what do these teams have to offer in return?  The Lions have the clear advantage in quality and quantity of draft picks, but it’s likely the Broncos would ask for an NFL-ready quarterback as part of any package.  And that’s where it gets sticky for all three teams.  On the surface, it wouldn’t appear that any of them have anything the Broncos would want.  Then again, it’s not like Denver is in the best bargaining position right now.  If no team comes across with the kind of deal Denver wants, they may have to settle for something less, and hope they can snap up a decent starter somewhere (Jeff Garcia’s still out there).

Here’s what I’d like to know:  Does Pat Bowlen now regret hiring Josh McDaniels?  I’m glad that guy’s a coach and not a diplomat, cause if he were, we’d just end up in another war.