There are a few people in the vast region known as Broncoland, not to mention members of the national press, who want to know: What happened in seven days?
On Tuesday, March 24, Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said, repeatedly and emphatically, regarding the disgruntled Jay Cutler: “He’s our quarterback. We’re looking forward to getting him back. We’re committed to him.”
On Tuesday, March 31, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen issued a statement that said, in so many words: “Jay Cutler is outta here.”
Cutler and a fifth-round draft pick were shipped Thursday to the Chicago Bears. In return, the Broncos got quarterback Kyle Orton, two first-round draft picks and a third-round pick.
The relationship between Cutler and his new coach had been strained really from the time McDaniels was hired to replace Mike Shanahan on Jan. 11. It became broken on Feb. 28, when Cutler learned McDaniels thought about trading him.
So after 72 days of strain, and 25 days of acrimony, why only give Cutler seven more days to come around from the time McDaniels extended his olive branch at the NFL coaches’ meetings?
“I think the two biggest things were, we’ve always maintained we will do what’s in the best interest of our team,” McDaniels said. “And any kind of a resolution was going to require a commitment on two sides. And I think Mr. Bowlen deserves a lot of credit for the way he handled the situation. It became apparent and clear that the commitment wasn’t going to be there (from Cutler). At that point, he felt it would be best for us to move on.”
Orton!
McDaniels didn’t say this, but by making a deal with Chicago, and not Washington, it became apparent the Broncos’ coach preferred Orton to Redskins’ quarterback Jason Campbell.
Bears’ general manager Jerry Angelo said at his news conference Thursday the Broncos “did a lot of work on Kyle, spent a lot of time breaking down the tape. I think that was a key component to making this happen.”
Orton could not be reached for comment, although he did communicate with his father, Byron Orton.
“When Kyle called me he was very, very excited about the opportunity,” Byron Orton said. “A little overwhelmed with the logistics of getting everything out there. He’s going to miss all his teammates in Chicago, but he’s really happy.”
Team meeting
Several hours before consummating the trade with the Bears, McDaniels held a team meeting with his players to discuss the Cutler situation. The Bears’ deal wasn’t discussed because at the time, there wasn’t a Bears” deal, but that wasn’t the point. The point was the organization had decided it was going to move forward without Cutler.
“It wasn’t a blow by blow or anything, but they needed to understand what was going on, and they deserved that,” McDaniels said.
Angelo said he didn’t know where the Bears stood in the Cutler derby until about an hour before the agreement was reached.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
