Denver Broncos News: Denver seeking trading partners for Cutler

Well, I am a little surprised at the way it is happening although I am not totally shocked.  The Broncos announced today that they will be actively seeking a destination to trade unhappy quarterback Jay Cutler to.  I personally felt it would happen closer to the draft, but apparently it is at a boiling point.

What is interesting to me is that owner Pat Bowlen really seems to be pretty upset with Cutler.  In the press release it was stated that Pat Bowlen and new coach Josh McDaniels have tried over the last 10 days to reach Cutler and have had no replies at all.  Despite what caused all of this, that is pretty immature of Cutler and far from professional.  I am honestly a little sick of people blaming McDaniels for starting this by entertaining a trade offer.  That is the big leagues folks, trades happen.  Whether it should have or not, that is the nature of the business and if Cutler is going to act like this then good riddance.

I won’t lie, I am not really happy about the way next season is shaping up but I am a Broncos fan for life.  16 – 0 or 0 – 16, I will root them on but damn this is going to be a bumpy rebuilding process.  Here is hoping we get back a decent QB and some more draft picks and move on.  Adios Jay, hope you grow up a little but wherever you end up.  If that is Detroit or New York…you’ll need to figure that out pretty quick.

Denver Bronco Player Spotlight: Peyton Hillis

The rumor lately is that Peyton Hillis may not be   safe when it comes to being moved to another team. I cannot state strongly enough how against this I am. Yes, he just finished his first season. Yes, he was injured towards the end. No, he did not put up flashy numbers.

You know what he did do that not many other players seemed to manage this past year? He brought a drive, determination and spark to the team that proved to be a winning ingredient. Don’t believe me?

Denver Broncos 2009 Mock Draft, Round 2

Yesterday, I posted about round 1 of the 2009 NFL mock draft I took part in.  Today I am posting how round 2 went down and who I thought the right choice for Denver was.  As you can see from round 1 it was all in fun, and not necessarily the most realistic thing.  After all, the fans’ opinion and that of the guy really pulling the trigger often don’t match.

For those that missed yesterday’s round 1 recap (shame on you, I just friggin’ linked to it!!!) you can see the whole mock draft at Weller and Bryan’s Sports Blog.

Denver Broncos 2009 Mock Draft, Round 1

So as I previously mentioned, the guys over at Weller and Bryan’s Sports Blog invited me to represent the Denver Broncos in a mock draft.  Basically each team had a representative to choose the draft choice.  The Mock Draft is still going on, it actually was going to be the first 3 rounds but they extended it to the entire 7 rounds including compensatory picks.  Unfortunately due to some personal obligations I cannot go further than the 3rd round but I have to say a big thank you to those guys for including me, I enjoyed it!

Anyhoo, today’s blog is just talking about the first round in terms of who I chose for Denver.  I will list the rest of the choices by other teams so you can see who was available at the time of my pick.  Tomorrow and the next day I will post rounds 2 and 3.

NFL Network’s Interview with Josh McDaniels

Like many of you, I watched the NFL Network’s interview with Denver Bronco coach Josh McDaniels tonight. I have read countless things about the coach since he was hired on both sides of the fence and to be honest I never really made up my mind.  How on earth can we tell how good or bad of a coach he will be?  Granted, some things have left me scratching my head a little like messing with the side of the ball that was NOT the issue.

One thing I can say after watching him speak tonight is, he is learning and getting better.  Not just with the talking but with his command and confidence that this is HIS team.  That is what we need Denver fans, make no mistake about it.  One of my favorite things I have read so far is that some fans are going to dump their season tickets because of McDaniels.  Please, by all means do it.  Not only will I get to that seat quicker (I was 6,515 on the list last week..w00t!) but I would rather not have you as a fellow fan.  I am not fooling myself into thinking that this off season has been a bowl of cherries but seriously, what sort of fan bails during a tough time?

During the interview, the coach was clearly being baited into more hype.  I think he may have been a little nervous but you have to hand it to him, he stuck to his guns and in my mind told Jay that the ball is in his court.  I would bet that the locker room likes the new coach, although that is clearly a guess as I would not know that for sure.  In the end, we have a new coach who is young and will probably make more questionable decisions during his tenure as a Denver Bronco but remember this Bronco Nation…he is a Denver Bronco and that won’t change barring something catastrophic.  Support your team, your players and your new coach and simply give the guy a chance to actually succeed or fail when it matters during the season before passing judgment.

Oh and bonus points to anyone that can tell me what the hell is happening in the image above…no seriously, I want to know.

What I like about Denver’s free agents

A lot has been made about the job that the Denver Broncos front office has done so far.  Given the circumstances and what was available, so far I am very pleased with what has happened.  Here are a few of my favorite free agent pickups so far and why.

Brian Dawkins - Yes, he is old…that seems to be all anyone can say about it.  Denver did not sign Dawkins for a long-term solution.  Denver needed a guy that can provide leadership to what will shape up to be a young and completely revamped defense.

Dawkins can provide the kind of leadership on and off the field to both rookies and veterans of this team, not to mention he can still play.  This reminds me of the John Lunch signing so much it is not funny, but this seems like a BETTER deal for Denver than that.  I cannot wait to see Dawkins in Bronco Orange, laying people out and firing up the defense.

Jabar Gaffney - We all knew coach McDaniels would make Denver into the Patriots West…and honestly who cares?  If we are going to imitate someone…may as well be a winner right?  The Gaffney pickup really strengthens the receiving corps, and that was my opinion BEFORE the Brandon Marshall drama.

With Brandon likely to miss a large part of the season next year (my money is on 8 games…hope I am wrong) Denver needs some solid players at the position to compliment Eddie Royal and Brandon Stokely.  McDaniels is going to run a lot of 3 receiver sets so I can see Gaffney being a significant contributor with or without Marshall.  He knows the system, has the experience and the talent to make an immediate impact and provide some solid veteran leadership to the younger guys.

Ronald Fields - I might catch some flack for this, but I think Fields might be the best pickup for the Broncos after Dawkins.  He is not flashy or terribly big but at 6′2″ and 315 he is just what the Doctor ordered to start rebuilding the Denver front 7 into a solid 3-4 system.  I really think that Fields and Peterson are going to be a very valuable combination of players for the Denver line this year and I am excited to see it develop and grow.

The funny thing is that with the Haynesworth (ridiculous) contract and so many others that were paid well, and sometimes overpaid (I am looking at you Domonique Foxworth) there was a lot of buzz going into the free agency period for Denver.  It certainly looked like the front office was going to make some waves with as many people as they let go.  In my opinion they have been very smart and calculated so far instead of being tempted into a spending spree.  The players they picked up will help the team this year and most importantly help the young players Denver drafts for the future.

Now all we have left is the draft, here is hoping the new regime handles it as well as they have free agency so far.

I posted this in my weekly column at BroncoMadness.com

Broncos365 News – 3/3/09

I haven’t blogged here in a little while, life in general has been hectic but I HAVE been a part of a few other blogging communities in the mean time I will share for anyone that follows me.

A few weeks ago I was asked by Garrett over at Bronco Madness to join them as a weekly columnist.  I accepted and have had 3 articles published there so far.  It has been deemed “Mile High Salute with Mike Koele”.  Here are links to my 3 editorials so far there…

2/16/09 -The Future Of The Broncos

2/23/09 -Who Denver Needs to Target in Free Agency

3/2/09 -Brandon Marshall…sigh

Then I was approached by Weller at Weller and Bryan’s Sports Blog who is doing a mock draft and wanted someone to fill the role for the Denver Broncos, and again I gladly accepted.  Check it out here, so far I have only picked for round 1 and well…to see who I chose you just have to read it don’t you?

Check out the Mock Draft Here and thanks to those guys for involving me, has been fun so far.

Finally, I have to brag a little about something my friend Lee and I have been working on.  Over the last couple months our project hast been Tailgate365.com

Tailgate is supposed to be a social sports networking community and I think we finally hit on all cylinders with our latest update.  You really should check it out.  We are not in it to make a red cent, we just want a good place for people to talk sports, share their blogs (you can post yours and link to the original, post it as an original or give us a feed to your site) and participate in site activities.  Not to mention the kick ass software we use that makes it VERY Face Book like.  We also have been interviewing NFL and NCAA players, you have to check that out…they have been terrific and fun to do!

So that’s what I have been up to, I will definitely begin blogging here more again now that the site is up and running where I want it to be.  Thanks to anyone that keeps reading!