The Denver Broncos' Solution to the Jay Cutler Mess: DO NOTHING!

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

A popular long-running sitcom was oft referred to as "a show about nothing." A hit funk song from the 1970s declared that war was good for nothing. And "nothing" was the number of wins by the 2008 Detroit Lions and the number of losses by a certain Miami Dolphins franchise.

The Denver Broncos should be inspired by and follow those and other great examples of things empty and void in resolving the mess with their 25-year-old record-setting Pro Bowl QB, Jay Cutler.

Maybe they Broncos need guidance in doing so, as they are right now being run by a first time general manager and a first time head coach. So, they can go around and ask the other 31 teams in the NFL how they plan to deal with trading THEIR 25-year-old record-setting Pro Bowl QBs.

The other teams would reply "nothing." Why? Because they don't have such creatures on their roster to consider trading or not trading to begin with. Well, the Broncos can simply do the same and pretend they don't have one either.

Take a cue from the movie Single White Female, where the crazed killer asks her roommate, "Who is this Hedra anyway? No one's seen her. She's not on the lease." The Broncos can say, "Jay Cutler? Who is he? If he's not our starting QB, then he's Nemo (Latin for NO ONE) as far as the NFL is concerned."

Jay Cutler is under contract to the Denver Broncos for the next three seasons. While the contract doesn't compel Cutler to play for the Broncos (thanks NFLPA collective bargaining agreement!) it can keep Cutler from playing anywhere else.

What is more, if Cutler refuses to play, not only do the Broncos not have to pay him, but they have the option of fining him for each day he misses.

They won't be able to recoup all of the money that Cutler is owed (again, thanks collective bargaining agreement!) but Cutler will have to pay the Broncos for the privilege of doing nothing.

You might ask "how can a franchise do such an evil thing! It is unprecedented!" No it isn't. The Bengals made it clear that they were willing to do the same to Chad Johnson.

Also, the Detroit Lions did it to Barry Sanders.

Officially, Barry Sanders "retired," but the truth was that Sanders just didn't want to play for the Lions anymore (for obvious reasons). The Lions let Sanders know that they weren't going to trade him or release him, but instead use his contract to make sure that he wasn't going to go help another team win and make them look like fools in the process.

Now when the Lions did it, it was an idiotic decision, because they could have gotten players or picks for Sanders to make their team better. So isn't that the same case with Cutler? Ah, no.

You see, Barry Sanders was a TAILBACK. A first ballot Hall of Fame one, true, but still a tailback. You can replace a great tailback with a very good one rather easily, or you can win without one.

But in today's NFL, you aren't going to win without an effective QB, especially in the AFC. Now sure, its POSSIBLE, but only if you have great players practically everywhere else.

That does not describe the Broncos, who were only 8-8 WITH Cutler's 4,500 yards and 25 TDs in the AFC West, the second worst division in football (to the NFC West).

And that is why Cutler has no leverage. If he leaves, the Broncos are still going to stink no matter what they get in return. So instead of helping another team—and helping Cutler—by allowing him to use his record setting skills for another team, it is better for them to force Cutler to play for them, and in the worst case scenario let make him sit.

Making Cutler sit will result in the Broncos being no worse than they would be if they traded him.

What if they trade Cutler for another QB? If they do, they'll only wind up with someone that another franchise can't win with, like Brady Quinn or Kyle Orton. So...Cleveland and Chicago can't win with those guys, but Denver can?

What if they trade Cutler for a high draft pick that they can use on Matt Stafford or Mark Sanchez?

No rookie QB is going to be able to run Josh McDaniels' complex and precision offense no matter how good he is, and teams that run such systems generally take QBs later in the draft anyway precisely because it is going to take at least two or three years before he'll be ready to play.

So scratch that.

Fine, but what about getting a package of players and picks for Cutler to make your team better?

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