QB Cutler skips team meeting

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Jay Cutler says he wants to break up. The Denver Broncos say they want to make up.

The Pro Bowl quarterback was a no-show on Monday for coach Josh McDaniels’ first team meeting and the start of the Broncos’ offseason workouts, and if he gets his way, he’ll never step foot in the team’s training facility again.

“The Denver Broncos confirm that Jay Cutler has requested a trade,” team spokesman Jim Saccomano told The Associated Press on Monday.

McDaniels declined interview requests after telling The Denver Post that he wanted to meet again with Cutler to try to resolve their differences before he considers a trade.

McDaniels briefly addressed his broiling quarterback controversy when he gathered his team as a group for the first time Monday morning.

“He just addressed it and said, ‘I’ll take care of it,’ ” recounted defensive lineman Kenny Peterson.

Cutler is upset that the Broncos tried to trade him for New England quarterback Matt Cassel last month and what he considers McDaniels’ misleading answers to his inquiries about those discussions.

So, he asked for a trade through his agent, Bus Cook, who engineered Brett Favre’s departure from Green Bay last summer.

The sides met face-to-face for the first time Saturday and Cutler came away convinced McDaniels wanted someone else under center while the Broncos were incredulous that the gathering didn’t result in a resolution to this nasty spat.

They told Cutler they expected him to attend Monday’s meeting and workout even though it’s voluntary.

Cutler told ESPN he would attend every mandatory minicamp and training camp but would skip the offseason training program, which won’t subject him to fines.

He will, however, miss out on a $100,000 bonus if he doesn’t attend 90 percent of the workouts. Cutler is entering the fourth season of a six-year, $48 million contract he signed as a rookie.

Even though it’s voluntary, the coaches expect everyone to attend the team’s offseason program unless they have an excused absence such as newcomer Brian Dawkins, who helped the NFL Players Association elect a new executive director in Hawaii on Sunday.