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Dave Krieger in the Denver Post sees a Bill Belichick boogeyman behind Bronco bumblings:

So it is perhaps worth noting that the day before the Cassel deal was announced, McDaniels, Belichick’s former assistant, signed two of Belichick’s players — wideout Jabar Gaffney and long snapper Lonie Paxton. In fact, to steal Paxton from the Patriots, McDaniels took the extraordinary step of offering a long snapper a $1 million signing bonus. Why McDaniels considered this necessary given Mike Leach’s immaculate record as the Broncos’ long snapper I don’t know, but a day later, trade talks involving the two teams blew up in McDaniels’ face by going public while Belichick made a different deal.

The 34th pick will cost Belichick considerably less to sign than the 12th would have, leaving him with more cap space for free agents, which is what he was after in the first place. And, somehow, his former assistant has a quarterback crisis on his hands 24 hours after signing two of his guys. Somewhere, Eric Mangini is having flashbacks.

Seems a little far-fetched. Course, it IS Belichick, so, perhaps. While we’re here, the reason that Cutler is peeved about the rumored deal that fell through is perhaps best understood through these two quotes from McDaniel over NFL Combine weekend.

Quote one on Cutler:

“I think Jay gives you an opportunity to be successful right away, and I think you have to have a competitive quarterback to be able to win at a high level in this league and I don’t think I’m saying anything nobody doesn’t know. He’s going to be a big piece of what we do and it’s important, I think, in our system, the system we’re going to use, to have a guy like that there. I think he’ll adapt quick. In the time I spent with him, I think he’ll be fine. He’s working hard at it; we’re hard at it together.”

Okay. Sounds nice. McDaniel think Cutler has a nice personality.

Quote two on Matt Cassell:

“Here’s what Matt Cassel is: Very bright, he’s very athletic, strong, accurate arm and he has now a full season of game experience under his belt. And I think we all saw how much that meant to him as the season progressed. He is a competitive player, a great person and there’s a lot of things about Matt that are very ideal for that position. He’s got size and all the rest of it.

“So I was a small part of his success, and he was a big part of my success and I think that whatever challenge Matt Cassel has in front of him, whether that be in New England or happens to be somewhere else, I think he’s going to respond to it the same way he responded when he walked in the door in New England, which is to meet it head-on with a great attitude and an incredible work ethic to try and do everything you can to make himself better. If that’s what you’re looking for in an NFL quarterback, you probably got a shot.”

Gracious. Get a room, Josh McDaniel.

That better be more than just flowers you bring to your awkward date with Cutler next week.