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*.....
http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com...ate-the-cutler
