Wesseling: It’s their right to trade his clients! Trade talks happen all the time. This one just happened to get out to the media.
Silva: Right, and now they’re paying the price with egg on their face. No sense in trying to tear down Bus Cook when he’s the smartest one of all.
Wesseling: Smart does not equal ethical, nor does it preclude the media from rightfully slamming him for his self-serving ulterior motives. He’ll have to meet his maker down the road.

Silva: Come on, the only thing that tore apart the franchise was McDaniels trying to trade the franchise QB for a college backup. It wasn’t some agent trying to capitalize that did the damage.
Wesseling: Cook is making Scott Boras seem scrupulous, and Cutler has been a whiny tool all along. McDaniels simply made an error in judgment. I see a chasm of difference there. Cook has a right to act without conscience, but the media also has a right to criticize him for it. The media's job is to enforce standards. There are repercussions when Cook works without ethics.
Silva: McDaniels made a mistake, then he tried to cover himself with this hard-line stance. He comes off looking like he got caught trying to act like a tough guy. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s a nobody at this stage of his career.

Wesseling: He’s the coach of the Broncos! And despite Cutler’s crybaby routine and Cook's power play, the coach runs the show.
Silva: Who cares about the agent though? He doesn’t play on the field, and he doesn’t coach.
Wesseling: He’s part of the story. He’s practically driving the story at this point.
Silva: It’s all opinion though. I just don’t care about agents or what they do. Ever.
Wesseling: So if Cutler was the Rams QB and Cook was concocting this devious scheme to get the richest contract in football by tearing apart the Rams franchise, you wouldn’t care?

Silva: If St. Louis had Cutler and Spagnuolo tried to trade him two weeks after getting named coach, I’d lay the blame at Spags' feet. And I wouldn’t care about Cutler’s agent.
Wesseling: What if all Spags did was listen to offers? You know, just doing his job?
Silva: No, he should hang up the phone. Cutler is untradeable, like Albert Pujols.
Wesseling: Cutler ain’t a patch on Pujols’ arse.
Silva: Ha, maybe not, but he’s close to as valuable.
Wesseling: Not if he’s Jeff George version 2.
Silva: He went to Vanderbilt. He has something between his ears unlike Jeff George.
Wesseling: I’m not saying he’s stupid. I’m saying he’s immature. He's also at least slightly off kilter, thinks he’s too big for the game, and has absolutely zero respect for authority (which he has shown in spades the past two weeks).

Silva: All it would have taken was a little butt-kissing right after the initial trade reports came out to get Cutler back, but the Broncos tried to be arrogant hard-liners.
Wesseling: Seriously? Butt-kiss a player acting like a petulant toddler? So he knows he has the franchise over a barrel for the rest of his career? That would have created a monster – as if he’s not already.
Silva: OK, we obviously disagree.
Wesseling: I know. It’s one of the few issues in the NFL recently where I’ve had a very strong opinion. I know Cutler is a much better quarterback than all of these columnists around the country are making him out to be. But he’s also thrown a bigger temper tantrum than I’ve ever witnessed from a superstar athlete -- in 25 years of following sports.

Silva: That’s got to be an exaggeration. At least he has a reason: the rookie coach tried to trade him for a guy who has 11 starts since high school.
Wesseling: It’s not an exaggeration at all. Trade talks happen all day, every day. Having your name thrown out there is part of the deal that comes with being a pampered, superstar athlete.
Silva: I guess.
Wesseling: But pampered isn’t supposed to mean literally in pampers.