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Not an editorial, but answering a mailbag question. I present the information without comment.
Woody - Maybe you can help an out-of-state Broncomaniac make sense of the attempted trade of Jay Cutler. Why on earth would the Broncos' supposed braintrust of Josh McDaniels and Brian Xanders even consider it?
-- Corbin Davis, Berkeley, Calif.
Corbin - McDaniels wanted Matt Cassel. That's all there is to it. Josh told me several weeks ago in a phone conversation, as I sat in my car and took notes on napkins and Burger King sacks, that he and Cassel connected last year, that Cassel was probably responsible for him getting a head coaching job, that Cassel had studied hard for four years to be a starter (as McDaniels studied hard to become a head coach), that Cassel was ready to go when called on and had a strong work ethic, understood the game and the New England offense and got better and better as the season went on.
McDaniels loves Cassel and saw a chance to get him. The word I heard from somebody I'd trust with my ATM password was that New England shopped Cassel around, and Denver was on the list. McDaniels said no, then rethought the possibility. Detroit and Tampa Bay came into the mix, and Tampa Bay really wanted Cutler. Cassel's salary-cap number is way higher than Jay's. The Bucs would offer two high draft picks to New England, they would get Cutler, and Denver would get Cassel.
However, on that Friday night, Bill Belichick did a deal with his old friend and ex-GM, Scott Pioli in Kansas City. The Bucs and the Broncos didn't know there was a deal in place, so Tampa Bay kept pursuing. Then they found out, and that was that. The problem for McDaniels was when other teams got involved in a three-way possibility, it was going to get out, and he didn't know that. Rookie mistake.
Some insight: A former president/general manager in the NFL was one of my closest friends when we were younger. We used to hang out all the time. Nobody really knew we were friends because I had moved to Denver and he was in another city. When Dan Reeves was the Broncos coach and he made cuts, he would announce them to the press, because sometimes he would pull them back if another team wanted them. I'd call my buddy GM, and he would read me the waiver wire, and I would write exactly who the Broncos cuts were, and Reeves would call me all (ticked) off. He went to every person at the Broncos demanding to know who was telling me the cuts. To this day, I've never revealed it was an executive with another team.
There is a pro sports executive in town who leaks league information all the time to a national TV commentator. In return, the commentator talks about this executive in a good light on TV several times a year. I was talking to a person in football I trust, and he told me he had an e-mail in front of him that said "Cutler will not be traded" after all the dust settled. I know that e-mail was from somebody in the Broncos organization. Long-winded answer.
I never heard Brian Xanders was involved in any way in a possible trade, so you got to wonder what his role is out there at Dove Valley. He hasn't spoken once publicly about the trade. Isn't a general manager supposed to let the media and the fans know? These guys are like Bush. They never hold press conferences.
And after the conference call involving Cutler and McDaniels (and several others), we know the situation hasn't improved. The conflict rages on. We'll find out more next week when the Broncos have ""voluntary'' meetings.