For Denver Broncos fans, the fight appears to be over. Superstar quarterback Jay Cutler is expected to be traded sometime before the April 25 NFL draft.

For Cutler, this is a matter of pride. A supposed deal was proposed earlier in the offseason that would have eventually sent Cutler to either Detroit or Tampa Bay. That deal would have also sent then-Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel to Denver. However, the deal never happened; Cassel ended up in Kansas City and Cutler’s ego took a crushing fall.

Let’s look at the responsible parties in this dilemma, shall we?

Denver: The Broncos fired the seemingly untouchable Mike Shanahan in the offseason, and brought in New England’s wunderkind offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, to be the new skipper. McDaniels allegedly tried immediately to trade for Cassel, his project last season. Cutler got wind of it and flipped his lid. Feeling disrespected and underappreciated, he demanded a trade. The 32-year-old head coach and team management immediately denied all knowledge of ever attempting to trade Cutler. They said publicly that he was their guy and that they were sticking with him. Obviously, their opinion has since changed.

Supposedly McDaniels and team owner Pat Bowlen have both attempted to contact Cutler, but to no avail; he ain’t taking their calls.

Cutler: Plain and simple: He’s being a baby. On Wednesday, ESPN’s Mark Schlereth made an excellent point when he essentially asked the question, “Does Jay Cutler think he’s the only person that this has ever happened to?”

This is a business, and you really can’t blame McDaniels for attempting to bring in a guy who had played for him and excelled under his guidance. What you can blame him for, however, is completely denying it. I’m not saying that Cutler would have been happy had they been honest with him, but he might not have reacted the way that he did.

In my opinion, Cutler showed a lot of immaturity in his handling of this matter. A consummate professional would have possibly stated that he was bummed, but would have honored his contract, which in Cutler’s case, has several years and millions of dollars left to go on it. Instead, Cutler whined, and cried until he finally got what he wanted, and felt vindicated. But is possibly becoming a Detroit Lion really a better option than playing for a coach who lied to you?

Obviously Cutler thinks so.

But as juvenile as Cutler is acting, you do need to fault Denver, and more importantly McDaniels, for completely blowing this entire situation. As much as I advocate not kowtowing athletes’ demands, the Broncos should have coddled Cutler on this one. It’s quite rare that you find a 25-year-old quarterback with the resume that Cutler boasts. He automatically makes any team better, even if that team is the Lions.

Overall, all I have to say is this: Cutler better turn his phone on pretty soon, because the next call could be to tell him where he’ll be hanging his hat in 2009-10.