Bottom of the Bird Cage 4/3

It’s the 93rd day of the year and those who wore the No. 93 in the red and gold are led by defensive lineman John Browning.

Born on April 3, 1924 in Omaha was actor Marlon Brando. Born on this day in 1942 was singer Wayne Newton and in 1961 comedian Eddie Murphy. On this day in 2007, Grambling’s legendary coach Eddie Robinson passed away.

And it was on April 3, 1882 when the outlaw Jesse James was shot twice in the back of the head by Robert Ford in James’ home in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Now, it’s one more edition of all Cutler, all the time.

From Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon: The critical question the morning after the debacle is whether the Washington Redskins have alienated Jason Campbell the way the Denver Broncos did Jay Cutler a month ago. Do we think Campbell is going to publicly snub his owner and coach, perhaps blow off a couple of weeks of team workouts, maybe pout and demand a trade? Here’s one of many reasons the Washington Redskins should be overjoyed Campbell is their quarterback. When Campbell’s coach called him at 7:30 yesterday morning, Campbell answered the telephone. Jim Zorn didn’t have to wait 10 days for his quarterback to return a message.

“I answered the phone,” Campbell said, “and Coach Zorn said to me, ‘Come meet me at the office.’ I did, and we had a long talk. I told him: ‘Coach, if you support me through this, I’ll be fine. Even if they get rid of me, there will be no hard feelings between you and me.’ And he said, ‘Jason, you and I can do a lot of good things together.’ He told me he’d be there for me all day. And believe me . . . that went a long, long way on a day like today.”

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From Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Jim Souhan:
In the foaming wake of “Kick-Ass Offense,” Childress actually said, “That’s how I put food on the table.” In an interview with Star Tribune reporter Judd Zulgad, Childress tried to explain how he makes difficult decisions at the quarterback position.

“You do what you do,” Childress said. “That’s how I put food on the table.”

At most positions, Childress prefers filet mignon. At quarterback, the most important position in football and the focal point of Childress’ expertise, he serves gridiron gruel. An NFL head coach with a blind spot for QBs is like a pilot with a blind spot for runways.

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From New York Daily News columnist Gary Myers: As it turns out, sources said Thursday night the Jets never even had the opportunity to consider topping the Bears offer. They let the Broncos know they wanted Cutler before he was on the market and called Denver after Broncos owner Pat Bowlen opened the auction earlier this week.

And guess what? The source said the Broncos never called back GM Mike Tannenbaum. The Jets got absolutely nowhere. They got the same treatment Cutler gave the Broncos: No return phone calls.

Denver never gave the Jets a chance to make an offer. Clearly, with the Jets the only AFC team showing serious interest and all the NFC teams in the derby picking right around the Jets’ No. 17 first-round spot in the draft on April 25, the Broncos were determined to ship Cutler out of the conference. Now, they will play Cutler every four years instead of every three and don’t have to worry about him beating them in the playoffs unless they meet in the Super Bowl

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Sometimes, it’s the trade a team doesn’t make that works out best for them. That’s what a lot of folks around the NFL are going to hang their hat on this morning, at least those teams that had an interest in Jay Cutler.

Obviously, the Broncos wanted to deal Cutler to the NFC, so that he shows up on their radar screen in the future only once every four years. That makes it less embarrassing if they made a mistake in dealing the quarterback. Only one team was able to pay the price Denver wanted and that it was Chicago that stepped to the plate was the only surprise. The Bears have needed a quarterback for years, decades really. But they’ve never been willing to go the extra mile to find one, i.e. a big-time trade or an established quarterback or a big-time move in the draft to get high enough to draft one of that year’s best prospects.

They’ve been burned by too many Cade McNown’s over the years. Getting Cutler was expensive, no doubt. If he pans out, the Bears won’t care and teams like the Vikings and Redskins and Jets will have some explaining to do.