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With Cutler On Block, Expect Bucs To Be Involved

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The Bucs have an interest in obtaining Jay Cutler, but he will cost a lot and the team has other needs.

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 1, 2009

Updated: 04/01/2009 07:43 am

TAMPA - Gentlemen, start your rumors.

After failing repeatedly in an attempt to mend the broken relationship between Coach Josh McDaniels and quarterback Jay Cutler, the Denver Broncos have decided to try to trade their disgruntled quarterback.

The key word here is try. You can bet the Broncos will place a high price tag on Cutler, one that will almost certainly include them getting a young starting-caliber quarterback in return. That won't be easy to get.

To make a deal like that work a team such as Tampa Bay, the New York Jets or Chicago will likely have to work a three-way deal and even then the Broncos may not like what they're getting.

Still, the simple fact that Denver has given in to Cutler's demand for a trade opens the way for a whole new round of speculation, and you can bet the Buccaneers will be at the center of it.

The Bucs were the second team (Detroit was the first) to try to swing a deal for Cutler last month, when word first leaked that the former Vanderbilt star could be had.

The Bucs tried to work a three-way deal with New England that would have resulted in quarterback Matt Cassel going to Denver and Cutler coming to Tampa Bay.

That deal died when Cassel was traded to Kansas City, and it greatly reduced the possibility of Cutler being moved because McDaniels' wish is to have Cassel as his quarterback.

The question that has to be asked now is whether McDaniels sees either Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson of Cleveland as a viable alternative to Cutler, because a deal for Cutler will almost certainly involve one or the other.

The teams getting the most run as front-runners for Cutler are the Lions, Jets, Bears, Redskins and Bucs, who have made no secret of their desire to add a fourth quarterback who can push Luke McCown for the starter's job.

One has to wonder, though, if the Bucs have the ammunition to work such a deal. They have the 19th pick in the first round of the draft, which they will almost certainly have to surrender to someone in this deal.

Without a second-round pick, though, the Bucs may fall short of matching the package of players and picks teams such as Detroit, Washington or Chicago could offer the Broncos for Cutler.

And then there is the desire factor. The Bucs, who have all but admitted to being in a rebuilding mode under new coach Raheem Morris, have a great number of needs other than quarterback.

They are in need of defensive ends, defensive tackles and cornerbacks that fit new coordinator Jim Bates scheme, and if Jermaine Phillips doesn't work out at weakside linebacker they may need to fill a hole there as well.

The Bucs plan to use the draft to fill those needs but a deal that winds up bringing Cutler to Tampa could rob them of the ability to add some of those key elements.

Another factor to consider is how a trade of Cutler to another quarterback-needy team such as Detroit, Chicago or the Jets would impact the top quarterbacks in the draft.

Such a deal could push Matthew Stafford of Georgia and Mark Sanchez of USC down several spots, possibly to a level where the Bucs could make a trade that would allow them to get one of them.

If the Bucs really feel a need for a young starting quarterback they can wait on the sidelines and hope a Cutler deal creates a situation where they can all but steal Stafford or Sanchez.

The Bucs are sure to look at all the possibilities this news creates in the coming days, and it's likely they'll make another play for Cutler. Their chances of getting him this time, though, seem slimmer than before.

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