A MERE SCRAP OF PAPER...

Today what's on my mind is the sanctity of contracts. It was the Austro-Hungarian foreign minister Metternich who famously proclaimed that a contract or treaty is nothing more "than a mere scrap of paper." The truthfulness of this amoral statement gets proven to us all the time, most recently in situations as radically different as the AIG bonuses and the Jay Cutler soap opera in Denver.

Bonuses? They Don't Need No Stinkin' Bonuses!

Ah, AIG. You've gotta love them. Once again they are about to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses, despite losing over $99 billion last year and despite receiving a massive bailout package from the Federal government.

AIG executives argue that the bonuses are part of a contractual obligation that must be paid to their executives and that the law upholds their right to make those payments. (Translation: "nyah nyah nyah na na!") This is interesting to me because if I've learned one thing about the modern workplace, it is that nothing is ever really guaranteed. I signed paperwork to receive a 4% raise for 2009, but then Gannett had me and at least 2000 other employees take an unpaid week off during the first quarter to try and cut costs and stave off bankruptcy. If it happens again in each financial quarter, there goes most of that 4% raise.

Or how about the United Auto Workers giving huge concessions to General Motors after they received a $15 billion government loan? Those concessions included no pay raises and cut backs in hours and benefits. These concessions had to be negotiated, sure, but they were done and GM got their way. Why is it okay for "the little people" to get less than they were promised when it is "impossible" to keep corrupt, incompetent and greedy executives from getting their bonuses? These are the times we live in.

Don't Drink the Orange Kool-Aid...and Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

I'm so sick and tired of the will-they-or-won't-they trade Jay saga of the Denver Broncos. It's funny though, living in Denver and listening to all of the talk show palaver about the issue--people still have a tremendous loyalty towards hometown team even when it is obvious that the owner has lost control, the new coach is in over his head and the entire direction of the franchise is trending down like the stock market. If you listen to most of the fans, they put most of the blame for the whole thing on whiny-boy Jay Cutler and his agent, slimy Bus Cook.

It is clear to me now that Bus Cook was hoping to stir up trouble in order to drive up Jay Cutler's next contract, especially since 2011 will probably be an "uncapped" year in the NFL. I don't believe that Cutler asked him to do this, but rather that Cutler is surprisingly naive about the way business works in the NFL and he has allowed himself to be manipulated by his agent. Jay is no babe in the woods--he carries an air of entitlement and a cockiness that is out of proportion to what he has accomplished thus far with the Broncos. He should never have viewed himself as untouchable or untradeable and until he leads the Broncos (or some team) to the playoffs, he will never be viewed as a truly elite quarterback whether he likes that or not.

But is the Denver Broncos team that is most responsible for this whole mess and the team will be ultimately responsible for trading their Pro Bowl quarterback for a bag of chips and some peanuts. What was Josh McDaniels thinking, even entertaining trading Cutler for draft picks and then acquiring Matt "One Year Wonder" Cassell? Sure, Denver needs draft picks to restock its defense with talented young players, but all of the rookie d-linemen and linebackers in the world can't get you more wins than a strong-armed, mobile quarterback with experience can. But then again, that is both the strength and the weakness of the so-called "Patriot Way"--no player is more indispensable than the coach and the organization and the coach is always right. This is the raison d'etre of Bill Belichick, but what works for him probably won't work for a 32-year old first time head coach at a new organization and that will prove to be the undoing of the Broncos thinking.

Hopefully, the Broncos will grant Cutler his wish and trade him sooner rather than later so that this sordid affair won't get drawn out any longer. My humble suggestion: see if you can sign Bryon Leftwich from the Steelers and draft a quarterback in the second or third round. He's had his career ups and downs, but he gives the team the best chance of any of the still-available quarterbacks to be respectable while the Broncos continue their extreme makeover. Chris Simms is strictly a backup, but he'll be one of the better backups in the NFL and then you just move forward as best as you can.

Peace...