ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—John Elway says he’s saddened for both Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos in their simmering feud that could end in an ugly split.
In his first comments about the quarterback conflict that has enshrouded the new regime of coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders, the Hall of Famer told The Pueblo Chieftain he thinks the entire episode is “sad and unfortunate.”
“Obviously, there was a lack of communication somewhere to where it blew this thing up to where it has got to now,” Elway told the newspaper while in Pueblo for a fundraiser Thursday night. “I’m sad for both sides.
“I’m sad for the Broncos because I think that Jay is a great player and he obviously has a lot of potential and this is a great place for a player like him to play. Hopefully, they can get the rift fixed because I don’t think that there’s any rift that’s too solid,” Elway said.
“For Jay, there’s not a better place to play football and to have a better opportunity to win Super Bowls because you have an owner (Pat Bowlen) who wants to win Super Bowls,” Elway said.
“As a quarterback, that’s all you can ask for. I understand Jay’s feelings got hurt, but it’s too bad it has got to where it is. I wish Jay would have got some better advice from whoever he was getting advice from,” he said.
Cutler instructed his agent, Bus Cook, on Sunday to ask the Broncos to trade him. McDaniels says he’d rather soothe things over with his quarterback.
Several teams have called the Broncos to express their interest in the Pro Bowl passer, who set a franchise record for yards passing last season, and teams are sure to approach the Broncos’ brass when the NFL owners meetings begin Sunday in Southern California.
The feud started when Cutler learned McDaniels had brought his name up in trade talks that would have brought his protege in New England, Matt Cassel, to Denver and sent Cutler to Tampa Bay. The sides were unable to repair the strained relationship in two meetings, one on the phone and the other in person.
Early in his career, Elway had a famous feud with coach Dan Reeves, and Bowlen eventually sided with his quarterback and fired Reeves after the 1992 season. That conflict also stemmed from the coach trying to trade his quarterback behind his back.
Bowlen is standing by his new coach this time.
“Obviously, I am not going to criticize the head coach,” Bowlen told NFL.com earlier this week. “I think he was trying to be a head coach. As I see it, Jay got upset about things and his feelings were hurt, and here we are.
“I am not going to weigh in on who is to blame here. This whole incident has been written about and talked about, and I am moving on, personally,” he said. “We’re getting ready for the draft and ready to play next season.”
