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Did the Patriots Create the Cutler Situation in Denver?

 After reading this morning that Denver will be seeking a trade for an unresponsive, pouting Jay Cutler I remembered some things I read via AOL NFL Fanhouse:

 Apparently, Bellichek and the Patriots organization were unhappy with the fact that the recently-departed Josh McDaniels not only left the organization, but also actively pursued Patriots players like Jabar Gaffney to join him in Denver. A search on AOL/NFL Fanhouse for Gaffney/Mcdaniels will provide a brief article detailing how the Bellichek administration was very unhappy about McDaniels "poaching" players from NE to Denver.

 As a result, Coach B. may have conspired with Patriots owner Robert Kraft to torpedo a semi-secret deal they were working with the Broncos and McDaniels for a trade to bring the then-Patriot Cassel to Denver. The implication was that Mcdaniels had hoped to import Cassel(with whom he was familiar and comfortable) and THEN(in a kind of "surprise attack") deal Jay Cutler to someone else in order to address some of Denver's more serious defensive needs. The Patriots, for reasons unclear, denied the trade and sent Cassel to KC instead. Unfortunately for Denver, Cutler basically quit on the Broncos after discovering he'd almost been traded.

 Apparently, and allegedly, the Patriots saw an oppurtunity to "get even" with the new Broncos coach(McDaniels) for stealing Gaffney from NE by both denying the trade for Cassel AND sending Cassel to division rival Kansas City, while creating a serious mess in Denver at the same time. In one action, Big Bill and Bobby K. systematically crippled the most consistent competitor in the AFC West by denying them a trade and creating a huge rift between a new coach and a Pro-Bowl QB. Denver now seems to have no other choice but to trade one of the NFL's better QBs. And they didn't even get Cassel in return.

 Although there is no concrete evidence that New England really intended to create this situtation the outcome remains, nonetheless, wholly beneficial to them(and, of course, the rest of the AFC too). Especially if Denver doesn't make the playoffs this year, or the next few. That's one less likely possibility of a playoff game in Mile High Stadium, it appears. Even if there was no "plan" to cause all this, the Pats come out, yet again, on top.

 It couldn't have worked out better for the Patriots if *they'd planned it*.....

 

 

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Juicy

Wow, that makes this thing so much more interesting, even on an April Fools Day that has Facebook notifying us that Big Ben is rumored to be traded to the Patriots.

If this is true or at least believed to be true I wonder if it would affect how other teams deal with NE.

by 13thieves on Apr 1, 2009 1:58 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

It should

make everybody very cautious about how they do business with them.

 As far as i’m able to discern, they trade for Cassel was pretty much a done-deal before NE sent him to KC instead. That move, in turn, alerted Cutler to the fact that his team was importing a QB without his knowledge. The Pats had every right to change their minds, but the timing of the decision and subsequent leak of the news of the trade talks were the source of the Cutler/McDaniels troubles. Whether that was intentional is anyone’s guess. I’m just guessing it WAS intentional.

*Below i implied that Cutler was to be traded for Cassell to NE. That is NOT the case- i lost track of myt thoughts for a sec. Sorry if it confused anyone.

by tobiathan on Apr 2, 2009 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

who cares? those cheatin bastards stank and everyone knows it

they better hope that brady doesn’t go down again…on the field i mean…

by SteelersFnRule on Apr 1, 2009 4:19 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Bellicheck hurt his own team

This alleged plot to screw McDaniels sounds like Patriot paranoia but in any event, the Patriots hurt themselves in this whole business. They got only a second-round draft pick for Cassel and Vrabel by making a quick trade to help out their buddy Scott Pioli and get some salary cap relief rather than let trade interest in Cassel build up. And Cutler might now very well end up with the Jets. If McDaniels and Pat Bowlen think the Patriots played a hand in all this, then they have the means to make life more difficult for the Patriots by sending Cutler to the AFC East. I wouldn’t put anything past Bellichek, but he obviously knows the Jets need a QB so I doubt he would light a match under a situation that could blow up in his face. The mess in Denver was not created by the trade of Cassel, but by how McDaniels and Cutler have reacted to it. McDaniels was not honest to the player and Cutler has acted like a little baby.

by steeler.lifer on Apr 1, 2009 8:16 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm with you

The Pats did much better with Cassell then they would have had Brady not gotten hurt, but I don’t think they got optimal value for him because of their salary cap woes. If they were still holding on Cassell the three way trade values would be astronomical. And the Jets could be scary with Cutler, best money is him ending up there or Minnesota, either team makes a strong case for division leader with Cutler as their QB.

by Chicago Steeler on Apr 2, 2009 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm curious...

Do you think Cutler or McDaniels had more to lose by reversing their stance (Cutler sucking it up or McDaniels just apologizing)?

I look at it this way for each person:

McDaniels – He probably thinks if he is apologetic to Cutler about the proposed trade, he comes across as a weak head coach. Similar to those Wade Phillips cowtowing to TO in Dallas. Now, he should apologize for lying (let’s assume he did that), but should he apologize for contemplating the trade? I don’t think so.

Cutler – Though his feelings were hurt, he really stands to lose nothing by sucking it up and showing everyone he is an excellent QB that should not be traded. I understand being initially upset, but his act has made a lot of people consider him a crybaby. Whether he is right or wrong, that is not the perception you want people to have. So in his own self interest, maybe he should have just let it go (even if he was still very much upset).

by HoustonPA on Apr 2, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

No

The Patriots absolutely did NOT get hurt by any of this. Not in the least. In fact, this situation has now effectively ham-strung the Broncos and put them in chaos while sending Cassell to a weak team. The Pats were in no way, shape or manner “hurt” by this situation.

Period.

by tobiathan on Apr 2, 2009 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Cutler

had a chance to be the bigger man and come out of this situation as the locked-in leader of the Broncos. Instead, he let his ego put him in a tenuous situation: having to learn a new team, new playbook and new city. And, breaking news has Cutler in Chicago: a team with issues.

 Denver was just a few defensive plays away from a strong playoff run this year. Why McDaniels wanted to even consider Cassel is beyond me. But- Josh knew Cassel(and his capabilities) better than anyone. Maybe he thought Cassell was the better man for the job. If the Patriots hadn’t decided to go with KC at the last minute, the trade for Cassell to Denver would have gone down before Cutler’d had time to react, and would have likely put NE in a position to turn around and trade Cutler for more high draft picks. They certainly don’t need him as a QB….unless Tommy Terrrific is less well-healed than we all suppose.

 And no: this is NOT “Patriots paranoia”. The facts are the facts; NE pulled the plug on the trade to Denver, picking KC instead, despite Denver’s(allegedly) big offer. By doing this, NE really did put a hurting on a good team. The Broncos are now in turmoil, instead of a player or two from contention. In hindsight it was a master-stroke of strategy on the part of the Patriots. They just knocked out one team with a history of challenging them on the football field.

 With Cutler gone to Chicago, NE won’t have to face him in the post-season, unless/until the Bears make it to the Big Show.

 I don’t think this was shady dealing at all. If anything, it was genius. How many teams have the balls to pull the switcheroo on a trade at the last second this way? Only the Pats could get away with it, IMHO.

 I’m not the least bit paranoid about NE. They have cheated in the past; that’s a FACT, not conjecture. But- they’ve also been one of(if not THE) shrewdest FO’s in the NFL most of this century. Give them credit where credit is due.

 My apologies for not adding more to the discussion, but i’ve been tied up lately…

by tobiathan on Apr 2, 2009 10:08 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

How does he come back and be the bigger man?

The QB position requires a sort of ego/alpha male mentality. So when an inexperienced 32 year old coach comes in and secretly tries to trade for his “buddy” instead of resting on the fact that he already had a Pro Bowl QB, and the 3rd ranked offense, your Pro Bowl QB is going to blow a gasket. I think if McDaniels would have apologized immediately and “manned up” himself, then Cutler would still be in Denver. Now, I usually don’t side with overpayed crybaby athletes that aren’t happy for this reason or that but I know if I was Cutler, I probably would have wanted traded too.

The turning point I think was the owners meeting where McDaniels was interviewed and he said “Cutler will have to do a few things” in order to be welcomed back into the fold. If I was Cutler, I’d have called him right then and there and said, good luck trying to fill that ever illusive QB position.

This just goes to show how far and above the management is here with the Steelers, we select the right “young” guy(that every team is copying now), and he handles the uncomfortable situations(Faneca, Porter) the right way, with respect to both the player and to the team.

All I have to say is… Thanks Mr. Cowher for wanting to spend time with your family…

by Piratefan13 on Apr 3, 2009 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

There's no way...

the patriots saw this Cutler situation coming. If Belichik actually expected Cutler to act this whiny, he’s not only a “good coach” but a mind reader too…

by steelersfan86 on Apr 2, 2009 10:32 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

By trickle down effect yes

Well obviously if there was no Cassel to be traded there would have been no crying Emo Cutter. And so that is where it all begins.

I dont really believe the Cheatriots managed to put this one together. But obviously their mere presence made it happen.

by Mechem on Apr 3, 2009 10:43 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Exactly

There’s no way they foresaw everything that shook out of this, but the Pats certainly intiated the series of events that ended up with Denver losing Cutler.

by tobiathan on Apr 5, 2009 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

A bad trade

The Patriots put the franchise tag on Cassel for one reason only, to get value out of their investment in him. As soon as they did that they created a trade market instead of a free agent frenzy. The fixed compensation for his tag was two first-round draft picks. The Broncos, who seemingly preferred Cassel over Cutler, received two first-round picks, a third-round pick and a starting QB from the Bears in exchange for Cutler and a fifth-rounder. The Patriots got a second-round draft pick for Cassel AND Vrabel. How is this maximizing the value of an asset? A team trying to trade a good player will usually use trade interest to leverage the best deal possible. Several teams were interested in Cassel, and the best the Patriots could leverage out of it was a second-round pick, and throwing in a valuable veteran like Vrabel, too? It would just be a ridiculously bad trade if not for the fact the recipient of this largesse was Bill Pioli, the former Patriots assistant GM. When you have a chance to get a first-round pick (if not more) for your team, and instead get a second-rounder while in the process also getting rid of a valuable team leader, then you’ve obviously hurt your franchise.

by steeler.lifer on Apr 4, 2009 1:55 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

More proof

that NE had more in mind than simply gaining draft picks. If they hadn’t seen some greater potential in playing things the way they did, they would’ve simply traded Cassell to Denver. As it is, they got a 2d rounder AND get some cap space by trading Vrabel(who’s aging, if not “old”) and Cassell AS WELL as cuasing Denver to lose a franchise-quality QB.

Still a pretty good outcome i think.

Besides- it’s not like NE is hurting for draft picks.

by tobiathan on Apr 5, 2009 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Why

is there some assumption that i thought the Pats saw Cutler flipping out? I don’t think anyone could have predicted that. The Patriot organization did, however, pull out of the Cassell trade to Denver at the last second and sent him to KC unexpectedly instead. AND- the word of the trade talks was “leaked” before the KC trade was finalized.

 NE couldn’t have known that Cutler would simply quit on the Broncos, but they certainly knew they were creating strife by exposing semi-secret trade talks at the last moment. It was either dirty pool or simply excellent gamesmanship on their part, depending on how you view the Pats overall.

by tobiathan on Apr 5, 2009 5:34 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs


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