On Monday, in a post about the possibility of Brady Quinn still landing in Denver, I mentioned that, via the Denver Post, an NFL source said it won't happen because "[Jay] Cutler's agent Bus Cook made it clear his client would not play for new Cleveland coach Eric Mangini." Well, Cook, who also represents Brett Favre (hence the Mangini reference), takes issue with the allegation, telling the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot, "That's not true ... Jay doesn't even know Eric Mangini except for maybe when they met when he was coming out of Vanderbilt.''
Cook adds:
"Brett has never expressed to me that he doesn't like Eric Mangini,'' said Cook. "In fact, they've been texting back and forth recently. "To this day, Brett has never told me anything negative about coach Mangini.''And, in fairness, I've never heard or read Favre express such sentiments, either. The closet thing to a public rift we've seen was Mangini's buddy telling the New York Post that Favre was "basically a selfish guy" in a rambling diatribe issued shortly after the Jets canned Mangini. That's hardly indicting. Or original.
More evidence that Eric and Brett are BFFs (or, at the very least, don't hate each other's guts): last fall, Mangini named his son after Favre, and last week, the new Browns head coach revealed that Favre could serve as a guest instructor during team camp this summer.
Now that we have that all cleared up, what does this mean for Quinn's future? No idea. The Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi thinks Quinn to the Broncos for their 18th pick "makes so much sense ... that I can't believe it hasn't happened yet." While Denver head coach Josh McDaniels is saying what you might expect: Kyle Orton and Chris Simms -- the two quarterbacks currently on the roster -- will battle for the gig.
I think Orton will do well in Denver, and I'm not convinced Quinn is an upgrade, particularly if the cost is a first-rounder. And unlike Cutler, who has three years of NFL experience, other than some preseason games and a handful of regular season snaps, there isn't much film on Quinn. That doesn't make him much different than Matthew Stafford or Mark Sanchez.
Of course, there's the Charlie Weis-McDaniels connection, which would seem to make Quinn the obvious front-runner. One problem: apparently, some NFL personnel types aren't sold on Quinn as an NFL starter. Via the National Football Post's Michael Lombardi:
There's a huge perception among fans in Cleveland that Brady Quinn is a quality starting quarterback in the NFL. Fueling this fire is Charlie Weis and his evaluation of Quinn. But what Weis thinks, and what others who worked for and with Weis at New England think, are vastly different. And no matter how close they may be, there's nothing that Weis can say to change their mind. In fact, when McDaniels was on the staff at NE, the Patriots did not have Quinn very high on their board, regardless of the wisdom stemming from Weis' evaluation.This isn't to say that Quinn is doomed to fail, just that there are differing opinions on his abilities. And as of right now, McDaniels is more comfortable with Orton and Simms (and maybe a rookie first-rounder) than Quinn. Of course, the draft is still two weeks off; a lot can happen between now and then.
