I stood up for this guy and went to bat for him while he was Denver’s coach, and even after he was fired I only placed some blame on him. What I just read is the last straw for me.

A Denver draft nugget is buried in an article on NFL.com about Vinny Cerrato - GM of the Redskins for most of the 2000’s - and how he was set to trade up into the 2nd to draft LeSean McCoy, but didn't because his RB coach he didn’t want McCoy. The article then goes onto talk about Cerrato's opposite encounter with Denver that year…

All of Cerrato's stories are well worth a read, but he wasn't always the victim of bad luck. He recalls trying to trade up for Brian Orkapo.

"Denver’s on the clock the pick before us, and I called them. How about this, I offer them a third-round pick to swap, and they called me back and they said No, you’re gonna get your guy, don’t worry about it, you don’t have to trade. How about that one? [Laughter.]," Cerrato said.

We all know who fielded that call from Cerrato, and his name isn't Brian Xanders. You mean to tell me that McD DIDN’T TAKE A FREE 3RD ROUND PICK KNOWING THEY WEREN'T GOING TO DRAFT ORAKPO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Come on!!!!!!!!!!!!! Besides that, they should have just taken Orakpo from the beginning at that spot and then BPA with the 1.18 (we had 2 1st’s in 2009). I can't believe this actually happened.

Source of original article: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8288ce03/article/cerrato-redskins-almost-drafted-lesean-mccoy?module=HP11_headline_stack

I'm confused.  There are so many factors contributing to my end opinion (which is tough to have because this technically isn't over yet) of the ENTIRE situation that has transpired.  But I will try and be brief with my opinion.

This would not be an issue if the Cassell wasn't offered to the Broncos (notice I DIDN'T say if McDaniels tried to trade for Cassell).  I also don't think it would be a public issue if the Broncos FO (notice again, I didn't say Josh McDaniels; my idea of the FO includes Brian Xanders, Pat Bowlen, and Josh McDaniels) had communicated with Cutler exactly what went down so that it could all be swept under the rug.  These things happen all the time in the NFL at this point in the offseason, so no need to make it public and humiliate your "franchise" QB by conversation with a team for a less-caliber QB.  That said the way Cutler (under the tutelage of his agent Bus Cook) has responded to this whole thing has been less than professional.  I have always been one to think that how you respond to a situation really tells of your character and your true desires.  They didn't make him feel unwanted - he felt unwanted as a result of how he chose to respond to the news he heard.  To know that he has COMPLETELY ignored the HC, and even the OWNER, makes me sick.  It may sound like I'm being contradictory, but hear me out.  The basic premise of my opinion is that I place some blame on both sides of the table. 

So there you have it, my opinion.  Now onto more of why I'm confused...the latest item - Bowlen coming out and saying that they will trade Jay Cutler.  WTF?  This is the same guy that fired Shanahan and said that he wanted to take back control of his team.  So he sits back and lets his young HC try to handle this whole ordeal, while saying that he isn't going to get involved.  I would say that he showed some control there, albeit a different type that we’re used to.  Then he comes out and flips the script by issuing this statement (which is too late to take control) and completely bails out McDaniels.  Could you imagine if Josh was the one to make this statement, after his interviews with NFLN and the MSM at the Owner's Conferences?  It wouldn't be a good look.  At all.  Now he seems to skate out of the situation of him not being able to "take care of it" as he told his players, because the owner stepped in and said THIS IS IT!  WE'RE DONE WITH JAY!  Now whether this was a smart move or not by Bowlen, I'm not sure yet and time will only tell.  But I do know that it is confusing.

Also, why are the Broncos tipping their hand now?  Just to confuse me even more?  Are they hoping that if they say that they are trying to accommodate Cutler by opening the door for trades, and then not having a good enough deal to pull the trigger, that Cutler has to come back to the Broncos because of his contract?  Is this just a HEY, WE TRIED!  Because they have lost a lot of leverage.  At first, it was Cutler who had no leverage because he wanted out of a situation that the Broncos weren't willing to let him out of.  Now they say that they are going to TRY and trade him.  I think that TRY is the keyword to my theory above.  I guess that we'll see as the days go on leading up to the draft, where he has the most likelihood of being traded if not before then.

This will be a trying time as a Broncos fan, but the fact is that we still have a team assembled that will be ready to play come November that we will need to support.  That is if you're a true fan.

I will be the first to admit that I thought we had found a diamond in the rough when we started off the season with Prater.  He was kicking lights out for our "unstoppable" offense.  Then as the season went on, he faded away never to return to his early season status.  What happened exactly?  I don't know.  But what I do know is that he should be a question going forward to the '09 season.  McD left top-5 NFL kicker Stephen Gostkowski in New England, which is such a valuable safety net to have when deciding to go for it on 4th down or not.  So my question to you is, what do we do with our K position?