They Just Don't Wanna

Cheer up, Jay. At least you aren't a Viking. Yet.

We've figured it out, Denver fans. Don't say we didn't tell you so later on. We have figured out a dirty, dirty secret about the Broncos organization that you won't want to hear. We thought maybe with the firing of Shanahan that this secret might not be true after all, but we can't deny it any longer. Ready? Here it is.

THE DENVER BRONCOS DO NOT WANT TO WIN.

Just to clarify, by that we mean: they do not want to win games, they do not want to be good, and quite possibly they do not want to be a respectable NFL franchise.

Some of us here at LetPlummerPlay.com have been very critical of Pumpkin Pie, in fact downright scornful at times. However there is no denying this: Jay Cutler is no worse than the seventh-best QB in the game o' foosball and possibly better. Whom would you rather have? Whom is more or at least equally successful? In case you haven't thought about it, we'll give you three short lists in no particular order:

1. CLEARLY BETTER (than Jay)
Peyton Manning
Tom Brady
Drew Brees

2. MORE PROVEN
Ben Roethlisberger
Eli Manning
Kurt Warner
Donovan McNabb
Philip Rivers

3. CUTLER'S BALLPARK
Chad Pennington
Tony Romo
Aaron Rodgers
Jeff Garcia

These are kind of "trade scenario" lists. Let's be honest, unless you threw in several picks and another Pro Bowler, no one on the first list would ever be traded for Jay Cutler.

When you get to the second list, it depends on the winds of change. Eli and Ben would never be traded because of team chemistry and recent successes, however, Warner and McNabb are more feasible because of age and could be swapped under the right conditions--however a trade demand would have to come out of one of those guys for it to actually happen. Rivers just had a breakout year and won a playoff game with an 8-8 team, so he's not going anywhere, but he's not exactly Joe Montana just yet. We almost put him in Cutler's ballpark, but he really did have a much better season.

Finally, you have "Cutler's Ballpark." These are guys who really are about where Jay is developmentally, in some form or another. Romo has a high-powered system built around him but can't get over the top. Pennington has a live arm and smarts, but is more consistent than talented--and occasionally, that's a better attribute. Jeff Garcia is a winner, but old. Aaron Rodgers is pretty much Green Bay Jay. You could possibly trade Cutler for one of these guys, but it would be pointless and not improve either team barring chemistry issues.

You'll notice Matt Cassel does not appear on any of those lists. He's on this one:

4. MILDLY ABOVE AVERAGE:
Matt Cassel
David Garrard
Jake Delhomme
Matt Ryan

If you really want to make a top ten list with trade value as a factor for 2009, where's the Pie? Let's just throw together a quickie and say he's not top three. Who fills the rest of the list?

Ben's won 2 Super Bowls. Numbers aside, you cannot discount that fact. Let's call Roethlisberger #4. Eli's Super Bowl was 2 years ago with a defensive team...he's not #5. Rivers may be #5 so we'll put him there and Eli at #6 because, well, that Super Bowl was only 2 years ago. So now we dip into Cutler's Ballpark. Tony Romo is not, as yet, a winner. Powerhouse teams, no results. We refuse to call him #7. Pennington is a control QB, not a clear #7. Jeff Garcia is older and has obviously never cemented a single team's confidence. That leaves the 7 spot between Cutler and Rodgers. We'll give Cutler the edge because he put up results without getting to study a consistent Hall of Fame QB with the same offense for three years.

So Jay Cutler is at least the 7th best QB in the league up through the year 2008. That means we consider him better than the other 22 starting QBs in the NFL plus their 40+ backups. The #7 slot comes with a catch: Warner may drop out of the top ten as soon as this year and McNabb isn't far behind. Brady's coming off of injury. Peyton is getting older. Ben and Eli may have powerful teams around them, but neither one is guaranteed to put up big numbers consistently. The opportunity for Jay to jump into the top five is obvious. It would seem that unless some strange occurence, uh, occurs, Jay Cutler should be a top five quarterback within maybe a year if not less. So the question is:

WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ENTERTAIN THE IDEA OF TRADING A TOP FIVE QUARTERBACK FOR *NOT* A TOP FIVE QUARTERBACK?

The answer is obvious.

THE DENVER BRONCOS DO NOT WANT TO WIN.

Because even if you (Josh McDaniels--whom we still have hopes for, but they're fading) fail in your attempt to bring in an inferior quarterback, you still manage to piss off the quarterback you tried to trade who just happens to be the centerpiece of your team and one of the few Broncos who has visibly given a shit about winning.

It's a sad day for Broncos fans, but it's not surprising. Not surprising at all from the team that wouldn't...

LET PLUMMER PLAY!!!