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Broncos Confirm QB Cutler's Trade Request

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The Associated Press

Published: March 16, 2009

Updated: 03/16/2009 01:36 pm

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Denver quarterback Jay Cutler was a no-show on Monday for head coach Josh McDaniels' first team meeting and the start of the Broncos offseason workouts, and if he gets his way, he'll never step foot in the team's training facility again.

"The Denver Broncos confirm that Jay Cutler has requested a trade," team spokesman Jim Saccomano told The Associated Press today.

ESPN first reported that Cutler, still upset that the Broncos tried to trade him to Tampa Bay in a three-team deal in February, had asked for a trade through his agent, Bus Cook.

"I'm disappointed beause I love being a Bronco, but I think it's run its course," Cutler told ESPN.

Cook, who was traveling, didn't return phone calls to The AP. The Denver Post quoted McDaniels as saying he wanted to meet again with Cutler to try to resolve their differences before considering a trade.

Cutler told ESPN he would attend every mandatory minicamp and training camp but would skip the offseason training program, which won't subject him to fines. Although it's voluntary, the coaches expect everyone to attend the team's offseason program. The Broncos' first minicamp is April 17 to 19, a week before the NFL Draft.

Cutler and McDaniels met face-to-face Saturday along with Cook and general manager Brian Xanders. Cutler was expecting a reconciliation, but the meeting didn't go well from his standpoint, resulting in the trade request.

Cutler said he would prefer to be traded to Chicago or Tennessee, according to ESPN and The Denver Post. The Post speculated that Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Minnesota, Detroit and Arizona are also possible destinations.

The Bucs, who list relatively untested Luke McCown as the starter, are still in the market for a quarterback. Longtime veteran Brian Griese and second-year pro Josh Johnson are also on the roster.

The Broncos have said they have no interest in trading their star quarterback, who set several team passing records last season and just played in his first Pro Bowl.

"I would like to talk to Jay before we go on and start to discuss some other type of alternative," McDaniels told the Post on Sunday night.

It's looking increasingly likely, however, that trading Cutler might be the only way to resolve the dispute.

Cutler has been unhappy since learning that McDaniels, who was New England's offensive coordinator the last three seasons, entertained the notion of trading him to the Buccaneers in a three-way swap that would have brought Cassel from the Patriots to Denver. New England instead traded Cassel to Kansas City.

Cutler believes McDaniels, New England's former offensive coordinator who replaced Mike Shanahan in January, misled him about those trade talks. McDaniels has said all he did was listen to the trade proposals, as he would with any player, as he tries to rebuild a Broncos team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 2005. Saturday's meeting was set up to straighten out any misconceptions.

"I went in there with every intention of solving the issue, being a Bronco, moving forward as a Bronco," Cutler told ESPN. "We weren't in there but about 20 minutes, [McDaniels] did most of the talking, and as far as I'm concerned, he made it clear he wants his own guy. He admitted he wanted Matt Cassel because he said he has raised him up from the ground as a quarterback. He said he wasn't sorry about it. He made it clear that he could still entertain trading me because, as he put it, he'll do whatever he feels is in the best interest of the organization."

Cutler, who went to Vanderbilt University and keeps a residence in Nashville, recently put a home he owns in Denver on the market.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen told the Post that he backed his new coach and was "disappointed" in how the relationship between McDaniels and Cutler soured.

"I'm disappointed in the whole picture, not just disappointed that we might lose our star quarterback," Bowlen said.

The Broncos have been the NFL's most active team in free agency, signing 15 players, including quarterback Chris Simms, a former starter in Tampa Bay who has thrown just two passes since having emergency surgery to remove his spleen after a game in 2006. Simms signed for two years and $6 million, ostensibly to serve as Cutler's backup.

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