Peppers for Cutler Trade Doesn't Make Sense

by Jaxon on Mar 18, 2009 12:25 AM EDT

Now that Adam Schefter has thrown water on the Julius Peppers trade to New England (though I doubt it's really dead) it seems everyone wants to weigh in on the possibility of Jay Cutler coming to Carolina. I admit that even I, a devout Jake Delhomme fan am intrigued by the thought of having Cutler at QB. In spite of the public beating he is taking by the media at the moment there is no doubting this guys arm, potential and smarts. When it comes to whether a trade could be made between the Broncos and Panthers though it just seems there are too many hurdles and aspects that just don't make sense.

Let's consider first what the trade scenario might look like in its simplest form. Let's start with a straight up Cutler for Peppers trade. As good as Cutler is I doubt the Panthers view QB as a position of need at this point and certainly not worth giving up their franchise player for. I'm almost certain as well that the Panthers want to get at least one fairly high pick for Peppers in order to potentially draft his replacement. I can't see Denver giving up Cutler AND a high pick for Peppers. Besides, what would they do at QB without Cutler?

Another problem is the Panthers would have way too money invested in the QB position with both Cutler and Delhomme on the roster. A simply solution you might think is to send Delhomme along with Peppers. That is until you read what Broncos QB Josh McDaniels wants from his QB:

McDaniels knows exactly the type of quarterback he needs at the controls of his system -- someone who will stay within himself, who will be methodical and precise, who will allow big plays to unfold within the structure of the offense rather than gambling that he can squeeze the ball between defenders or simply throw it to a spot too far down the field for anyone to get to ... except his receiver.

Ummm...it doesn't sound like Delhomme would fit in Denver either by a country mile. So my guess is that if Peppers ends up in Denver it's from a straight up trade for draft picks and doesn't involve QB Cutler. Though many Panther fans reading this will disagree (and I understand where you are coming from) the Panthers do not view the QB position as hindering a SB run. I too think the Panthers could still win a SB with Jake at QB, but that's a whole different discussion (maybe tomorrow?).

That said I can't help but wonder what really went wrong in Denver. If McDaniels was going to make the play for Cassell he should have went all out and never lost the bidding war to KC. Now he's left with a pissed off QB and he certainly doesn't seem willing to try and smooth things over. You can read a nice summary of the fiasco here from Mile High Report.

About the only thing that makes sense in a Peppers for Cutler trade is that both teams have malcontents on their team that they will probably need to jettison though both teams really don't want to. Beyond that I just can't make sense of it. Maybe someone else out there can help me understand.

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not so sure

as a bucs fan i have been following this closely, and I think mcdaniels is jon gruden reborn he probably thinks he can turn chriss simms into tom brady i dont think he wants cutler and denvers defense sucks so this trade might make sense to them

by bucfanlostiniowa on Mar 18, 2009 12:31 AM EDT reply actions

It makes perfect sense.

If that trade goes through, why not just cut Delhomme? Why is that not a possibility?

Every team who doesn’t have a recent first round QB, or a guy named Manning or Brady is always thinking about the future of their QB situation. EVERY team.

Delhomme is set to be in the 6th highest paid QBs this year. We keep talking about Peppers strangling the cap situation… he’s only part of the problem.

I understand we cannot release Delhomme without an answer at the position, but the bottom line is that he is not worth that much money nor the FA inflexibility his contract brings.

In my mind:

Cutler > 34th pick > Peppers

by the bomb dot com on Mar 18, 2009 1:00 AM EDT reply actions

You make good points Bomb

Cutting Jake is certainly a possibility I just think the Panthers would have a hard time making that move just because they appear to have full confidence in him

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Mar 18, 2009 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions

I was expecting this post to be controversial

and I agree Delhomme brings a quandary to the Panthers just below the Peppers problem. Do the Panthers really need the 6th highest paid QB in the league for their offense? If you just look at stats then Delhomme will never measure up. But he has shown to be team leader and has won games with his arm and that is why the Panthers will keep him around another season and maybe longer. Is that a smart move? We shall see this season.

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Mar 18, 2009 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't think Peppers/Cutler

makes much sense.

It was just a pipe-dream to get rid of a malcontent and add a future QB in the process. Truthfully, it doesn’t make sense for either team… they can’t just give the reins to Darrell Hackney; we don’t need Delhomme & Cutler; they don’t want/need Delhomme; if we trade Peppers, we really need to help our D; etc.

Jazzardous Materials
3rd Down & Full Count

by UtesFan89 on Mar 18, 2009 1:06 AM EDT reply actions

I don't know Jaxon.

When I look at the past few Superbowl, all the teams whom has won it has had an excellent guy behind center. In fact, the only team I remember recently that even made it to the Super Bowl without a good guy was when DA Bears made it a while back.

This trade is unlikely to happen sure, but if the Broncos would like to throw in a 3rd round pick with their trade then I would seriously consider it. It gets us our franchise QB for the next decade, clears up some cap space we can use to sign Jason Taylor, and boom we’re contenders once more.

We could always push the defensive line back a year or two. But a franchise QB cements our contention for the ultimate prize for years to come. I fully expect the Broncos head coach to be fired within the next year or two.

"Once again the trowsers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn

by Revshawn on Mar 18, 2009 11:09 AM EDT reply actions

McDaniels has certainly got off to a rough start

I can understand wanting to be honest and saying basically “anybody could be traded” but in this case he would have been more prudent to tell Cutler he had no intention of trading him now going forward. He could always use the “well things changed” excuse if he did get traded.

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Mar 18, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll just cut to the chase and say he's going to get fired.

Here’s the deal. The Broncos finished 2nd in the league in terms of yards for the season. The passing offense is one of the things in Denver that is excellent. Why worry about changing it? You have a defense that finished 30th in the NFL, right at the bottom. If you want to improve your team, I’d start signing guys to play defense. I wouldn’t make an attempt to trade out a QB whom has proven to have success.

This just screams bonehead move to me.

"Once again the trowsers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn

by Revshawn on Mar 19, 2009 2:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Um?

Brad Johnson with the Bucs?
Trent Dilfer with the Ravens?

Sure, our D isn’t on par with those 2 teams, but they proved that a strong running game and a solid D can win it. We just need to improve our D…

Jazzardous Materials
3rd Down & Full Count

by UtesFan89 on Mar 18, 2009 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions

This is true.

You’re right, it can be done. At the same time, we still need a QB that can complete on 3rd down. We’re paying Jake Delhomme just around that kind of money and he repaid us by throwing 6 interceptions on a day we needed him most. He made a wound in my heart that still bleeds Panther blue and black. We could use around that same kind of money on Jay Cutler, whom is a aspiring young QB that has one of the strongest, accurate arms in the NFL.

Still, I agree with your point. If we can get Julius Peppers traded, we might stand a good chance of getting the D-Line improved. If not, we’ll have to blitz a whole bunch this year to make up for it, especially if Julius Peppers goes on protest.

"Once again the trowsers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn

by Revshawn on Mar 19, 2009 2:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Peppers 4 Cutler

Why not Cutler, Dumerville, and sheffler(or a 3rd round pick) for Delhomme and Peppers. Satisfies our need for a replacement at each position and either a relatively high pick or a good tight end that cutler is comfortable with. Denver gets a vet QB and a dominate Outside line backer or D end. Up grades their D big time and a low risk QB for the new Coach in Denver.

by ecu98 on Mar 18, 2009 2:01 PM EDT reply actions

Dumerville

is just a pass-rushing DE, he’s not a 4-down guy. I guess that could work, I’d rather we have a 4-down DE to replace Peppers.

And Denver doesn’t need/want Delhomme. He doesn’t fit what McDaniels wants.

Jazzardous Materials
3rd Down & Full Count

by UtesFan89 on Mar 18, 2009 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions

break it down

Hey Jaxon can you or the readers tell me if a three way trade is possible in the NFL? I would like to know if you can see the Cutler to CAR, Pep to NE, Jake and NE draft picks to DEN working out. We would get cutler, pep and jake would be gone, and we could concentrate on defense in the draft. Like said before we need to address both D and O lines but arent we talking about finding suitable depth? I think we have the starters in line (excluding PEP) and seems like we are looking for backups. With that said i dont think we will have trouble finding bodys to fill in for this year, and come next year we will have everything in our favor as far as I know. I was just wondering what you thought?

by hacory1 on Mar 18, 2009 6:01 PM EDT reply actions

Sure, 3 way trades have been done in the past

though I can’t recall the specifics of one right now

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Mar 19, 2009 8:03 AM EDT up reply actions

You had me at "Delhomme fan"

Sorry, but I stopped reading after “even I, a devout Jake Delhomme fan am intrigued…” This team will never be able to win a Super Bowl with “Gunslinger” Delhomme in the pocket, looking at Smith the entire play, chucking up 50 yard prayer bombs, and generally ruining an entire season’s worth of work in a matter of minutes.

by Hollywood2311 on Mar 18, 2009 6:30 PM EDT reply actions

Welcome to the blog Hollywood

Having been a fan of this franchise since inception Jake has won some big games where all the previous QB’s could not. Sure he had a better team, etc…lots of arguments there I’m sure…but I like the down-to-earth Delhomme and I think he team mates still have confidence in him. He had a horrible game against AZ for sure but I’m not ready to let it erase all the big games he has won. But I also can’t disagree with the ‘gunslinger’ moniker as he has developed some bad habits the past couple seasons. I’m ok with one more season to see if he can get us back to the promised land

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Mar 19, 2009 8:01 AM EDT up reply actions

hollywood2311

I disagree with you saying we’ll never be able to win one with Jake as the QB. I think if we keep the team exactly as it was last year, it will be our defense, with Peppers, that let’s us down. Jake played horribly for one game, but when the defense gave up 34 against ARI, they actually had an average game compared to the previous two months. However, if we take the same offense that was scoring close to 35 a game over that same time period and add Cutler to it, we’re definitely a better team.

I think, though, that people who think we should get Cutler and a pick for Peppers overestimate Pep’s value. If I was Denver, I’d want Pep and that 59th pick for Cutler, or no deal.

What I really want is to just get rid of Pep, and I’d gladly trade Jake and Pep for Cutler straight up. But I think that McDaniels is gonna get his head out and keep Cutler. Right now, it would be very difficult for us to bring someone in right away who can run this offense better than Jake. I mean that by looking at the QBs who are available. So when your offense has no Smitty, D-Will, Stewart, and your defense is horrible, how much harder is it to replace Cutler?

by usana_gaines on Mar 18, 2009 6:55 PM EDT reply actions

Jake won't be part of any trade

His talent and age aside, no one wants that cap figure.

If we get a new QB, Jake will be dropped, no question.

Oh, and 3 way trades are ok in the NFL, but I don’t think it would work in our case. My guess is the Broncos would want more than the 34th pick for Cutler.

This Denver situation is really strange, and I think we cannot downplay how rare an opportunity it could be for us.

by the bomb dot com on Mar 18, 2009 9:15 PM EDT reply actions