What began as a mild disagreement rapidly escalated to a heated feud. Dubbed ‘Mcjaygate’ by the media, the dispute began with Denver Bronco quarterback, Jay Cutler, being upset by possible trade rumors involving former Patriots’ quarterback Matt Cassel. After Cassel wound up in Kansas City, not Denver, Cutler became disgruntled with new coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders.

After the situation appeared to have reached a point of no return between the rookie head coach and the Pro Bowl quarterback, Cutler requested through his agent, Bus Cook, that the Broncos trade him. Days later, the Broncos said, “Cutler is our quarterback.” After 10 days of no new developments, the situation caught fire again  on April 1 when the Broncos announced they would grant the quarterback’s request to be dealt.

On April 2, foxsports.com reported that Cutler said he didn’t want to be traded, he didn’t think things would go as far as they would, and he truly wants to stay in Denver.

I smell something familiar. It’s the raunchy stench of a superstar sweating in the spotlight. Jay Cutler’s dealings in the past six weeks have given him a new image as an NFL athlete — one Broncos owner and CEO Pat Bowlen and new coach McDaniels will not stand for. 

I do believe Cutler never thought things would get this nasty. But the actions of placing his and his parents’ Denver homes for sale and flat-out requesting a trade tells me he did expect something to happen, showing his immaturity by sending mixed signals about what he wants.

Both sides are at fault here. Denver management did break promises to Cutler. The rookie coach didn’t seem to handle the situation the best he could have, which makes the blame in this situation fall on both sides’ shoulders.

In this new text-message age where face-to-face communication has been lost, more texts have been relayed between the two sides than words have been spoken in a conference room. A practical solution of an in-person meeting between the upset quarterback and the new head coach was never seen (besides one meeting that included Broncos’ general manager and Cutler’s agent held nearly a month ago).

Sadly, it appears this terrible tale between the Broncos and what seemed to be their franchise quarterback ended sour, with neither side showing true maturity. But the NFL remains a business, as both sides move on after Cutler was dealt April 2 to the Chicago Bears.