The agent for Jay Cutler says the offseason purge of coaches is at the root of the disgruntled quarterback's issues with the Broncos, and the team's owner is not sure the damage can be repaired.
"To tell you the truth, I have no answer to that question," Denver owner Pat Bowlen told NFL.com. "I would like to keep him here, obviously. But if you are going to be an unhappy camper, there is no real reason to be here."
Agent Bus Cook said Bowlen's firing of head coach Mike Shanahan started an atmosphere of doubt that snowballed into mistrust once offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates was also dismissed.
"The owner assured him everything would be fine," Cook said. "The owner said he had the second-best offense in football and would leave the offensive staff intact. Jay was good with that. Then he hires an offensive coach (Josh McDaniels) who gets rid of the staff."
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Bowlen disputed Cook's account of events.
"I really have had no discussion with Jay or the agent," the owner said, according to NFL.com. "Mike was fired right after the season. At that point, there was no need to have a discussion with Jay. Now, actually, to be fair, I don't think I had that discussion. I don't recall it. I know I'm getting up there in age, and I am not sure of that discussion."
Cook said Cutler did not push for a trade upon McDaniels' hiring, and that their relationship only disintegrated later when the quarterback learned his name had surfaced in trade talk as McDaniels apparently angled to land Matt Cassel from the Patriots.
"Jay called me and asked, 'Are they trying to trade me?' I told him, 'No, why would they try to do that?'"
A summit last week on the eve of offseason workouts failed to put Cutler's mind at ease.
"Jay told them he understood about the coach's relationship with Matt Cassel," Cook said. "At no time was the coach critical of Jay. In fact, he told Jay soon after he got to Denver that Jay was the reason he came to Denver. So, why was he trying to trade him? All the guy had to do was say, "I dropped the ball, I have a special bond with Cassel, you are my guy.'
"Jay never heard that. What he heard in the meeting was it could happen again."
Said Bowlen: "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. We're getting ready for the draft and ready to play next season."
