Pat Bowlen Gets Candid About Cutler

In the middle of one of the most trying offseasons of his entire tenure as an NFL owner, Pat Bowlen of the Broncos opened up for an interview with Woody Paige (really?) of the Denver Post. As noted by Aaron Wilson in the Sunday One-Liners, Bowlen acknowledged that coach Josh McDaniels has made some “rookie mistakes.” Bowlen also said that he is experiencing some “short-term memory loss,” which might shed further light on whether Cutler’s version of the meeting with Bowlen after Shanahan was fired is accurate. Cutler claims that Bowlen said the offensive coaching staff would be kept intact. It wasn’t. In March, Bowlen explained that he didn’t recall meeting with Cutler; in January, Bowlen talked publicly about his meeting with Cutler. And while Bowlen rightfully objects to the failure of Cutler to return the owner’s calls, it could be that Cutler’s recollection was accurate, and that he didn’t want to again put himself in position to be told one thing and to have something else happen. That said, Cutler still should have given Mr. Bowlen the courtesy of returning the calls and talking about the situation. “I don’t want to throw him under the bus,” Bowlen said, “but I made two phone calls (and there is proof, Broncos executives claim) and left voice mails with my cell number and asked him to call me, and he didn’t. . . . Pick up the phone! That’s where we got off the rails. We had no other choice but to trade him. If (the trade talk) was the reason Jay left, he should have left.” We agree with Bowlen. Answering the calls or returning them is the least thing Cutler could have done for a man who has already paid Cutler millions of dollars to play a game that thousands would and do play for free.