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

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

This is nothing like Baltimore (Indianapolis) and San Diego being forced to trade away John Elway and Eli Manning, a favorite media canard, as players are not obligated to sign with the team that drafts them...they can re-enter the draft.

But once a player signs a contract with a franchise, the player should either play for the team or be traded or released on terms that benefit the franchise. The idea that you are going to be able to get away with a "QB with hurt feelings" exception to this without no one else trying to exploit it is unrealistic.

So, as this drags on, eventually the media is going to be forced to stop saying, "How DARE Denver offend Jay Cutler by trying to trade for the OBVIOUSLY INFERIOR Matt Cassel," (funny how people who are so concerned with Cutler's feelings could care less about Cassel!).

The fans will be forced to stop saying "Josh McDaniels doesn't know what he is doing, plus none of the Belichick assistants have done anything anyway!" to saying, "Ok...why isn't this guy in camp?

"This isn't about him wanting a bigger contract, this isn't about some real personal dispute with his head coach, because he has barely spoken to—let alone played for—his head coach and doesn't even know the guy. He is hurting the team, and it is time to move on."

Of course, Cutler is free to defy public opinion and remain intransigent, but again, look at it from Josh McDaniels' point of view, and the owner who has a vested interest in McDaniels' succeeding. If Cutler is traded, the story line forever will be "it was McDaniels' fault.

"He did something or said something that alienated the franchise" and McDaniels never lives it down. But once public opinion swings, the fans and the media will have no choice but to conclude that Cutler is the one being unreasonable.

The fans will have to accept that Cutler is not going to get what he wants: McDaniels is not going to be fired, and not only that, but they aren't even going to get any picks and/or players for the guy.

And the media, whose whole strategy of making money off the NFL, will have to deal with the best young QB in the NFL—indeed the best young QB in a long time—is on the sidelines hurting their bottom line in a bad economy.

Again, it won't be enough to force Cutler to play for McDaniels and Bowlen if he doesn't want to, but it will certainly make the Broncos look a lot better than they do right now.

That plus not being stuck with paying the players and picks that they would get for Cutler so they can lose games with a higher payroll AND not having to see Cutler light it up for someone else—and inevitably down the line beat the Broncos at some point—is the best deal that they will be able to manage should Cutler choose to continue to act this way.

And if that is the best that the Broncos can do, then it is my advice that they take it.

Again, trading Cutler hurts the Broncos far more than it could possibly help them, so they shouldn't do it. Jay Cutler is a Denver Bronco until his contract runs out. Of course, taking this stance would effectively end Cutler's career, but keep in mind: It would be Cutler's own decision to throw it away.

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