Another Offseason, Another Petulant QB That Just Happens to Employ Bus Cook as His Agent
Douchy Agents, NFL March 18th. 2009, 11:00am
Last year, Brett Favre hogged the offseason headlines with his petulant ways, fighting with the Packers, deciding where he wanted to be traded, and doing a walk-and-talk on an airport runway with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. Fox’s Jay Glazer (Favre’s side) slugged it out with ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (team’s side) for the scoop.
This offseason, Denver’s Jay Cutler finds himself embroiled in a slightly similar situation to Favre – he’s feuding with his team that put him on the trading block. Mort seems to have a direct line to Cutler, just as he did with Favre.
The connection between the two QBs and ESPN? They both share the same agent, Bus Cook. Clearly, Cook has aligned himself with ESPN (specifically Mort), but unlike Green Bay’s organization working with Glazer, the Broncos either haven’t picked a media member to get their word out, or they don’t plan on it.
This will obviously backfire horribly. Cook and Cutler have already portrayed the Broncos as … well, bumbling rubes who want to trade their star player because the rookie coach has a fascination with a one-hit wonder (which may seem to be the case). Cook and Cutler are on the verge of ruining the coaching career of Josh McDaniels before he coaches his first preseason game.
If the Broncos have chosen anyone to get their message out, perhaps it is Fox’s John Czarnecki. Today he writes one of the first informed anti-Cutler screeds we’ve read in awhile:
Everyone should know that Cutler has wanted out of Denver ever since Mike Shanahan was fired and quarterback coach Jeremy Bates left for USC shortly afterward. Before McDaniels and the Broncos pursued a failed trade for Matt Cassel, Cook had already been begging to get his client out. Denver told him no from the beginning. But somehow Cook has been able — how hilarious is this? — to paint Cutler as some victim in the cruel world of NFL trade talk.
Bingo. We fully expect Mort (via Cook) to chime in sometime before 4 pm – gotta have the news to lead NFL Live with.
87 Responses to “Another Offseason, Another Petulant QB That Just Happens to Employ Bus Cook as His Agent”
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March 18th, 2009 at 11:06 am
That guy just looks like a trouble maker.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Even if Cassell is a one hit wonder, isn’t that still one more hit than never been in the playoffs Cutler?
March 18th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Don Banks for SI covered this angle yesterday.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/don_banks/03/17/cook/index.html?eref=T1
March 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
shit, Pats missed the playoffs last year. i’m an idiot
/Cutler still sucks
March 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Bus Cook was in Buffalo on Monday
March 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Yeah, Cook is almost certainly the evil catalyst here. But McDaniels is still a freaking idiot.
As a Broncos fan who are you going to blame when in one off-season you go from Shanahan/Cutler to McDaniels/Simms? Not Jay Cutler.
If the Broncos are forced or otherwise decide to trade Jay Cutler, it’s on them. Trading away a 25 year old, uber-talented, proven NFL capable (read, not Ryan Leaf) is something that can doom a franchise for a decade.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:11 am
anyone else think that Bus Cook was a big black dude?
March 18th, 2009 at 11:15 am
* Cutler: 62.3% completion, 7.3 YPA, 27 total TD’s, 11 sacks (616 attempts), 4,526 yards
* Romo: 61.3% completion, 7.7 YPA, 26 total TD’s, 20 sacks (450 attempts), 3,448 yards
* Rivers: 65.3% completion, an absurd 8.4 YPA, 34 total TD’s, 25 sacks (478 attempts), 4,009 yards
* Roethlisberger: 59.9% completion, 7.0 YPA, 19 total TD’s, 46 sacks (469 attempts…this is pathetic), 3,301 yards
* Peyton: 66.8% completion, 7.2 YPA, 28 total TD’s, 14 sacks (555 attempts), 4,002 yards
* Cassel: 63.4% completion, 7.2 YPA, 23 total TD’s, 47 sacks (516 attmepts), 3,693 yards
cutler sucks? really?
oh, that’s right, you’re a steelers fan. after watching big ben play “QB” i can understand how you’d miss this.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:15 am
I’d hardly call Cutler’s 17-20 record in 2.5 years indicative of someone uber-talented and proven.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Even if Cassell is a one hit wonder, isn’t that still one more hit than never been in the playoffs Cutler?
Cassell didn’t make the playoffs
March 18th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Never trust anyone named after a vehicle, ie tank, bus, cadillac, nothin but trouble.
Banks points out how the Packers actually studied and discussed Bus’s forced divorce with McNair in Ten, pretty interesting.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:17 am
there you go again touting record…
give him a defense that can actually stop someone, and lets see what his record would be.
RECORD FOR A QB IS FUCKING RETARDED.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
anybody else still having trouble filling in the brackets on yahoo for the 1st pool? I thought this issue was resolved, but I still can’t edit the picks…
March 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am
same with me Badger. I gave up on that. I’ll try one more time tomorrow morning before they are due
March 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Da Bears
March 18th, 2009 at 11:22 am
and if you think this is about anything other than getting cutler a HUGE deal, you’d be wrong.
cutler saw how fat ben duped the steelers into giving him 9-figures, so why wouldn’t a team play a GOOD QB that much? they saw the failed trade, broncos lost leverage, now cook wants to get his client paid. he’s being a damned good agent here.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Using Spencer’s list of QBs, with last year’s FO rankings:
Cutler – 5th
Romo – 11th
Rivers – 4th
Big Ben – 23rd
Cassel – 17th
Manning – 2nd
Brees is 1st.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:23 am
These agents that are working for their clients are real assholes.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:23 am
* Rivers: 65.3% completion, an absurd 8.4 YPA, 34 total TD’s, 25 sacks (478 attempts), 4,009 yards
And he didn’t make the probowl. What a joke…
March 18th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Yeah same for me with the bracket. It worked fine for me yesterday but I want to go back and make some final adjustments and now it’s blank again.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Da Bears three years ago maybe. Our defense can’t even figure out how to defend a screen for fuck’s sake.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:26 am
@Roeth — He is uber-talented, and I don’t think there is anyone in the league that will deny that.
We could argue all day about the Broncos record with him and whether it reflects on him as a QB. Personally, I look at the Broncos decline on defense in the last 3 years and the answer is obvious. I mean, the only defense worse in 2008 played it’s home games in Detroit. And 2007 was only marginally better.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Bingo. If I am a Broncos fan I don’t care how my QB is acting. I would prefer management fire the coach and give the QB a new contract.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:27 am
seriously…rivers was incredible last year. it was great during the season, but when you go back and look at it, it was PHENOMENAL. 8.4 YPA? that’s ridiculous.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Well that you’re right about. But with all the stats earlier, please. You can throw for all the yards in the world, but winning games generally comes down to your QB making 2-3 plays at the end of the game, some guys make them, some guys dont.
Find me another player on the field who plays a larger role in winning or losing a game and we can discuss them all day long.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Find me another player on the field who plays a larger role in winning or losing a game and we can discuss them all day long.
The entire DEF decides the record more than the individual QB.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I’m sure that Coop and Roeth will agree with me, that I’m perfectly happy with Big Ben and the 2 Super Bowls he’s won. You can have your Rivers and Romos and Palmers and whoever else, and they can put up big stats, but I like having #7 under center whenever the Steelers need a big play. I’ve seen it too many times for it to be lucky. But whatever, he sucks, you’re right Spence.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:32 am
you put Cutler on the Steelers and he would have two rings too.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:32 am
oh my god is that retarded.
a football game is decided OVER THE COURSE of 60 minutes. what good is a great last 3 minutes if the other 57 are shitty?
and so are you just conviniently ignoring cutler’s ability to win games last year at the end of the game? i can remember 2 instances where he did, and im pretty sure there’s 2 more.
and what good is the last 2-3 minutes if your defense can’t keep you close enough to capitalize? yes, the QB is the most important player on the field, but it’s still a TEAM game.
if i ahd to start a franchise from scratch, id take cutler over big ben 100 times out of 100. cutler puts points on the board…big ben does not, and the only reason he’s successful is because his defense can keep opponents from scoring, unlike cutler’s defense. your rationale is incredibly short sighted here.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Spence – maybe being a Browns fan has rotted your priorities in a QB, but I’ll take a QB who wins games, including 2 Super Bowls. 9 figures well spent
Career QB Rating – Ben 89.4, Cutler 87.1
March 18th, 2009 at 11:35 am
i can remember one game where Big Ben’s ability to win games at the end of games. if i recall correctly, there was about 2 minutes left when he got the ball. they were playing Arizona I believe, it was a neutral site game. It seems like it was a pretty important game.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:36 am
+1…..Big Ben aint exactly carrying the Steelers.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:37 am
listen, im not saying big ben isn’t a good football player. he DOES make great plays in crunch time, but the fact remains, as a QB, he’s incredibly lacking when compared to a guy who doesn’t cost his team field position on the regular.
again, all you steeler fans give big ben props, but what about the D? what about the D that masks the fact that he takes FAR too many sacks, and doesn’t really put his team in the endzone?
i have no problem giving a player or group respect, and big ben definitely deserves it after the super bowl and his crunch time resume, but i just can’t ignore the rest of the game where he’s merely pedestrian.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Badger –
Re: Tourney Pool.
Are you using the new ID #? Group ID #141649 I just went in and everything is working fine.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:40 am
For the record its not us Steeler fans who constantly bring up Ben in these Cutler discussions, its Cutler defenders who have nothing to stand on than, “well he’s better than Ben.”
My guess is that its largely hater syndrome, if Cutler was polishing 2 rings and Ben was the sub-.500 QB it would be the exact opposite. Cutler has never knocked anyones favorite team out of the playoffs, in fact he’s probably never even beaten most peoples fav team, so its much easier to like him.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Because Big Ben is white! He is one of us!
/racist’d
March 18th, 2009 at 11:41 am
roeth…im not talking as a browns fan. im talking as someone looking at QB’s OBJECTIVELY.
first a steeler fan throws off record as a means to show how “good” big ben is, then they throw off some cliche bullshit about “being clutch” and “just winning games,” and now QB rating?
that’s one helluva bullshit troika.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:43 am
irish and cracker…I just hit refresh and now the bracket is working again…
March 18th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Spence, you act like the sacks are solely Big Ben’s fault. many of the sacks(maybe even most times) last season and the year before, there were guys in the backfield before he finished his drop. yes, he holds the ball for a LONG time when things break down. sometimes, it results in a big play, sometimes a sack. but he isn’t getting sacked in a vacuum, there are guys paid to give him time, and they do it worse than most teams in the league.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:43 am
OK, i’m the dumbest, most distracted guy around. I thought the guy WAS a bus cook. Like he used to cook turduckens while riding around with John Madden, or something.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:44 am
whoops…cracker jack that is
/not trying to start a war here
March 18th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Joe Flacco > Drew Brees
/Roeth
//Coop
March 18th, 2009 at 11:45 am
the stats Spence uses are objective, the stats others use are bullshit. got it.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:45 am
well there is statistical evidence to stand on too.
which has been my entire argument, but yea, just keep thinking it’s a browns fan’s spite.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:46 am
agree 100%. I get that Steelers fans will defend there guy because of the superbowls and what not but if you look at it completely objectively, Jay Cutler is superior to Roethlisberger. I would take Cutler over every QB but about 2 or 3. Bringing up records is garbage because Roethlisberger has played for one of the most stable franchises all his years in the league. Cutler has played with a mess. Shanahan had been messing up that Broncos team since 2000.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:48 am
What about Neil O’Donnell?
March 18th, 2009 at 11:51 am
KC,
Is there still room for more people to join? I read a couple of days ago that the group was full.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:52 am
75% of sacks are the QB’s fault.
do me a favor, look up the metrics on how many sacks the steelers gave up…i gaurantee that a small percentage are a result of individual linemen getting beat.
NFL OL’s operate with the thought that they have to hold their blocks NO LONGER than 3 seconds. how is it fair to the steelers line that they have to hold theirs for 10? it’s the same with pass rush/coverage…CB’s cover for 3-5 seconds, because ANY NFL WR is getting open after that, no matter who’s doing the covering.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Not sure, but he played for the “most stable franchise” and had a “dominant D”, so I’m going to assume he has 2 rings, since QB plays no role in a teams success.
One whole year where he was statistically better, wow.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:54 am
spoken like a true patriot.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:59 am
so I’m going to assume he has 2 rings, since QB plays no role in a teams success
No. he lost. the D didn’t show up that game
March 18th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Noguts -
Re: Tourney Pool.
Are you using the new ID #? Group ID #141649 I just went in and everything is working fine.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
that’d be 2. cutler was better in 2006 than big ben was…how can i say that? because big ben was probably the worst QB in the league that year.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
What is more objective than this? Arm strength? 40 times? You touted Rivers ridiculous YPA earlier, that factors into QB rating.
Your entire argument seems to be based on the fact that Ben gets sacked a lot and the defense is really good. Denver averaged whopping 1.5 points per game more than the Steelers last year. They also played in a division where the top ranked defense was 15th in the league. Meanwhile, the Steelers played 8 games against the Top 8 defenses in the league.
Are there better QBs than Ben in the league – sure. No Steeler fan is going to tell you Ben is superior to P. Manning or Brady, I just don’t think Cutler makes that list.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I’d take Ben on my X-Games team anyday.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
*fixed
/cowboys fan
/watched all there games dont belong in strong defense talk
March 18th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
passer rating sucks because it doesn’t take into account a QB’s ability.
any NFL QB can check down a million times and make all the safe throws…it’s how david garrard and jeff garcia got their high passer ratings in the past. but cutler threw downfield a lot more, which is a lot riskier, and is going to inherently have a lower completion % and throw more INT’s.
this is just an example, but say cutler throws downfield and gets a ton of yards and TD’s but has a relatively low completion %. garrard throws underneath a lot, and gets a lot of red zone TD’s and few INT’s. cutler, to the person who watches the games, would be considered the better QB, but garrard would have a higher passer rating because he didn’t throw downfield.
passer rating doesn’t show the entire picture and skews everything towards the west coast passers who don’t throw downfield often, something cutler most certainly is not.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
and no, passer rating does not take into account YPA, which is it’s biggest flaw.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
so now we use the most objective stat of all: ability. its binary, either you are a yes or no, and spence is the arbiter. cutler – yes, roethlisberger – no. when you put it that way, its obvious that cutler is better.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Well said.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Sorry Spence, you’re wrong. To get a perfect rating you need at least 12.5 YPA.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Haha… you can go back 6 years and replace Brady for Ben in this debate and not miss a beat. What’s funny is the Steelers fans were probably saying the same thing about Brady that everyone else is saying about Ben now.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
spence, what does it mean that Ben has a higher career yards/attempt than Cutler?
March 18th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
all things being equal, when the game is on the line…right now… you have to take Big Ben over Cutler. The Broncos needed to win ONE FREAKING game out of their last 3 to propel themselves into the 2009 playoffs.
Here are the scores and the respective opponents
Carolina 30, Denver 10
Buffalo 30, Denver 23
San Diego 52, Denver 21
2 out of those 3 games are winnable with a competent QB. In games his TEAM ABSOULETLY HAD TO HAVE, he puts up 10 and 23 points. We’ve seen Ben perform when his team absolutely had to have it. You cannot say the same thing about Cutler.
Cutler has more potential, but in a league where the fans demand INSTANT success the choice has to be Roethlisberger
March 18th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
When is the last time PIT’s defense gave up 30, 30, and 52 points in consecutive games?
Just sayin’.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Every conversation in which Big Ben is praised as the greatest QB involves win/loss and mocks individual stats. Why? Because Pitt has the best defense in the league and puts Ben in the position to look good. Ben is not a great QB but he is on a great team.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
it means he has a higher YPA. YPA doesn’t mean shit unless you have other stats too…look at my lsit above, cutler and roethlisberger’s YPA are similar.
but cutler has A LOT more attempts…the more attempts the lower the YPA gets. cutler had 8 more TD’s and 1,200 more yards, so while their YPA’s are similar, the rest of the stats fill in the rest.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I don’t even know why this is a discussion. its called the eye test. watch the two play. its not close. This is like Saracen Vs. McCoy
/TBL’d
March 18th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Big Ben could never do what Frank Reich did.
/irish
March 18th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
@clown- im surprised you had nothing to say in Ballin today
March 18th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I didn’t watch any of the games last night.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I didn’t watch any of the games last night.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
my bad. I thought you said you were excited the game was on NBA TV last night. Missed a good one
March 18th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Yeah, that was the plan but I ended up finding a sitter. Those are hard to come by these days.
I probably would’ve been pissed if I saw the 3 second call by Eric Nies’ dad.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I love when people reject WAR and linear weights on one hand but cite QB rating as a valuable metric on the other.
March 18th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
As opposed to QB’s who are on good/great teams but still do nothing, looking at you Romo, Delhomme, T-Jack, Cassel, et al.
So he is penalized for succeeding with talented teammates, whereas failing with slightly lesser teammates is praised and somehow makes you better. Now I see why Wade > LeBron this year, duh.
March 18th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
you can’t compare basketball and football…there’s more of an individual aspect to basketball.
and ben is penalized for NOT succeeding until the very last minute while his team props him up where cutler is being praised for working his ass off and his team letting him down.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
So playing well for 55 minutes but sucking in crunch time and losing > playing average for 55 min but spectacular in crunch time and winning.
So really, the Browns won The Drive and The Fumble games!!!
/cheap shot’d
March 18th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
i thought i posted a comment…guess not.
but that’s the thing, cutler does perform well in crunch time.
and there wasn’t a need for the cheap shots. don’t you think im well aware of how much the non-joe thomas/shaun rogers browns suck?
March 18th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Well you should probably be aware that the joe thomans/shaun rogers Browns also suck.
/you would do it too if the roles were reversed
March 18th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
JOE THOMAS IS A SAINT!!! HOW DARE YOU BESMIRCH HIS NAME!?!?
March 18th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
How is he being penalized? We’re saying that you are over-rating him and under-rating the effect that the rest of the team has on his win/loss record. He’s an average QB and is nowhere near the top of the list.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Because the haters are basically giving him zero credit for winning. His stats aren’t as pretty as other guys, so he sucks despite the fact his OLine is terrible and most of his games are played in shitty rain/wind/snow. Put Peyton outside in Dec and his stats go way down, doesn’t mean he sucks.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
You’re basically saying the Steelers won in spite of him, when if you actually watched the games you would know he dragged a terrible offense to 15 wins. Running game, terrible, Oline, terrible, receivers, average (until Santoni0o finally turned it on at the end of the year).
Similarly, I thought this was Peytons best year because he had to claw for wins, doing it with very little help.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
there’s a difference between not giving any credit and legitimate criticism.
i definitely give big ben credit for pulling out wins at the last second because id be a fool not to. but that doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a pretty average QB the majority of the game and any statistical measure backs that up.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Big Bens sobe commercial sucked
March 18th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I’d put it just behind his 2006 season, when he led one of the most efficient offenses in NFL history because their historically-awful run defense was so bad they sometimes only got six or seven possessions a game. Next year should be better, as there’s no way in hell their offensive line can be that bad again, and they shouldn’t lose both starting defensive tackles to retirement and drug use, respectively.