The Jay Cutler Squabble Continues to Heat Up, but Will He Be Traded?

The Monday reporting date for voluntary workouts have come and gone, and yet Jay Cutler was true to his word, saying he would not report.

This mark's the end to his Denver Broncos career, right? Not necessarily. But it does show that Cutler is truly upset, no matter if he's dealing with it right or wrong. There is plenty of mending to do if Cutler is to stay in Denver. Will he? That question will answer itself when the owners' meetings begin this weekend.

That being said, the Broncos' owner has come out and pretty much said, in not so many words, that if a player is unhappy, why keep him here? That is a good question! But is Cutler truly unhappy, or is he just a man with hurt feelings?

My assessment of this is that Cutler is hurt. He is a young player who has dedicated himself to the team and he most likely feels betrayed.

That very well could be the case, as he claims that not only was he lied to a few times about the direction of the coaching staff, but also to the fact that he was told he could still be moved if the right deal presented itself.

I, for one, completely agree with that mindset of the management. If you have a chance to improve your team, why not take it? I understand you don't want to ruffle any feathers, and there is no doubt that loyalty is huge with certain players, but if management truly believes that a trade would make the team better, isn't it really against their job objective to not pursue such a thing?

The answer is simply: yes.

There are a few things that will play into whether or not Cutler is dealt. And no, it has nothing to do with Cutler's happiness, as he is still under contract with the Broncos. For the next three years they have the rights to Cutler, and depending on if there is a franchise tag brought into the new collective agreement, he could be Broncos' property for even longer. What really depends on the trade going down or not is what can Denver get back in return through a trade To figure that out, we have to figure out Cutler's trade value.

So what is his value? He is a young quarterback, with potentially 10+ seasons still remaining under his belt, and has a proven, strong arm. Denver is not looking to be involved in a complete rebuilding season, so the transition at the quarterback position would have to go smooth.

Mentioned as his possible suitors are the Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and, according to The Denver Post, there have also been rumors of a Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals deal.

A good read, but let's be honest, Mike Klis seems to be more interested in filling a page to anticipating readers than speaking about some cold hard facts.

Luckily for you, the Bruno Boys Nation, the Bruno Boys make their living by telling it straight.

MENTIONED AS SUITORS

ARIZONA CARDINALS

Let's squash the least likely scenario of all: Cutler to Arizona for Matt Leinart. It is not going to happen. Warner just signed a two-year extension for a boat load of money.

If Cutler is traded to Arizona, what do the Cardinals do with Kurt Warner? Bench him? No way! Not at over 10 million per season!

Trade him? At his price and age, there is almost no chance that some team would step up and pay the price that it would cost to acquire such a player, especially with what Arizona would be asking.

Cutler backs up Warner? Yeah, right. You think Cutler has hurt feelings in Denver? Just imagine him being traded to be Warner's backup?

Nice idea, Mr. Klis, if you own a fantasy football team. But we are talking about the National Football League.

CAROLINA PANTHERS

OK, I can see why the Panthers would be interested, as Jake Delhomme hasn't exactly been Mr. Dependable the past few years. But quarterback is probably one of the less pressing needs of this team.

They have a very sound ground game setup now in Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. They have Steve Smith at wide receiver, and Delhomme would most likely not be the quarterback Denver would want in return.

Carolina, usually known more for their defense, would do themselves well by going after defense rather than a fair, but not significant upgrade at quarterback. Otherwise, it would most likely wind up costing players that would have really helped the Panthers at other positions. It just makes no sense for Carolina.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

This rumor is also very easily squashed. The Vikings just traded for Sage Rosenfels, and Tarvaris Jackson is still a pretty young, affordable quarterback, and someone the Vikings believe can be a pretty successful quarterback in this league. I just don't see this happening. I can see them bringing in a big-time wide receiver threat before a quarterback.

CHICAGO BEARS

It is known that Cutler's favorite team growing up was the Bears. But they already have Kyle Orton doing a solid job. I am not saying  the Bears wouldn't mind getting their hands on Cutler, but it would probably cost them Orton and either a defensive stud or their first rounder.

In a division that is overwhelmed with weaker teams looking to solidify their rosters, I don't really see them giving up a solid first round draft pick AND a proven, solid quarterback. Besides, do the Broncos really want to put their trust in Orton? Most likely, the answer is no.

TENNESSEE TITANS

The Titans already have a disgruntled, young quarterback in Vince Young. Odds are that since Denver would already be trading away a disgruntled quarterback, do they really want to obtain one in a deal, one that has proven to be a mentally unstable player that has just recently threatened retirement? Probably not.

And the Titans did too well record-wise last season to have a lot of juice in their first rounder, meaning that it would be very hard for Denver to take that pick and turn it into something that would help out the Broncos as much as Cutler would.

CLEVELAND BROWNS

Would the Browns love to acquire Cutler? Probably. Most teams would. Does it make sense for them? No. They already have good money tied up in two young quarterbacks, Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson.

The Browns would like to unload one of their quarterbacks to free up money. So bringing in a quarterback who will also be making a pretty solid paycheck is not necessarily the brightest move on the Browns part. And with the receiving problems the Browns will most likely endure in 2009, picking up a top-flight quarterback is probably pretty low on their list of needs.

THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIOS

Let's go back to the drawing board, shall we? We all know Cutler wants to play for the Bears. But as we already covered, the deal does not really fall into the Bears plans. So who are the main contenders for Cutler's service? The Lions, Buccaneers, and the most likely scenario, the Broncos.

DETROIT LIONS

The Lions have the best selection of early round draft picks this year in the NFL, something that could play heavily in the acquisition of Cutler. Calvin Johnson shares the same agent as Cutler, which could help coax him into accepting a Detroit trade with enthusiasm.

Cutler would have a few things going for him were this to happen. He can prove to Denver that they made a horrible mistake, as he could help turn around the worst team ever in professional sports. Plus, he will get to play with a wide receiver that is a nice upgrade over an already solid Brandon Marshall.

Being a Lions fan, though, I question if this is the right move. Cutler is already proving to be fragile mentally. If things don't go his way, he gets on a rampage. Besides, the Lions really need to use their draft picks on building their defense and offensive line. I just don't see them grabbing Cutler.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

It is widely known that the Buccaneers also would like to get their hands on Cutler. The thing is they really don't have what the Broncos are looking for. Higher draft picks or defense are not on Tampa's list of commodities that they would like to trade. It would take a whole lot of bending on both parties to pull this one off.

DENVER BRONCOS

I can't help but believe after everything that has been said and done that this will go any further than some bickering between the franchise quarterback and his new head coach. This is the sports world, and there is a history of players and coaches being competitive.

Can you believe that? As I mentioned earlier in this article, I really do believe Cutler's feelings are hurt. But that is fixable. The new head coach, owner, and Cutler need to go grab a bar burger, or throw a few frames at the local bowling alley to hatch things out.

This is not an unfixable problem, and in the end, I really believe the Broncos will realize the return they could get for Cutler will pale in comparison to what he can do for their team.

Thus, checkmate. Cutler stays in Denver.

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