The Broncos are in the middle of the end—of one of the most tumultuous offseasons in NFL history.

The Broncos are coming off a .500 season.

Average.

Since then, things have taken a nosedive straight to the bottom of the abyss.

The offseason started with the firing of head coach Mike Shanahan. His replacement? Former New England Patriots’ Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels.

The season really started to go downhill when rumors leaked that McDaniels wanted to bring in QB Matt Cassel from the Patriots. On February 28, ESPN reported the Broncos considered trading Jay Cutler in a three-way trade with the New England Patriots and either the Lions or the Buccaneers.

The deal would have sent Cutler to Detroit or Tampa Bay, while Cassel would join the Broncos and be reunited with his former coach, McDaniels.

Cutler was not happy about the rumors. He asked the Broncos for a trade.

Cutler was already running his mouth off during the regular season. He claimed he had a better arm than Brett Favre and Bronco and Hall-of-Famer John Elway.

Broncos fans began to paint him as a disrespectful cry-baby. I think he’s pretty bad, but Broncos fan are exaggerating. He’s not that bad.

Since the Broncos couldn’t keep him, they decided to trade him to his favorite childhood team: the Bears.

In return, Denver received QB Kyle Orton and three draft picks.

Since being traded to Chicago, Cutler been cast into a somewhat unfair light by the media. Meanwhile, Broncos fans have had Cutler jersey burning and shredding parties.

And things back at Mile High have gotten even worse.

With Chris Simms already injured, Kyle Orton had to be taken out of a preseason game due to a cut on his hand. Now the Broncos’ top QB is Tom Brandstater, a rookie out of Fresno State.

While Brandstater is good as far as 3rd stringers go, he is in no way prepared for the rigors of being an NFL starter. Denver will have to hope for speedy recoveries from Simms or Orton.

And now reports say that another Pro-Bowler wants out of Denver. Brandon Marshall was suspended by Josh McDaniels for insubordination, which in this case means not trying at practice. Marshall has stated he wants out of Denver.

The New York Jets are looking at Marshall, and reports say that they are interested. However, the lovable (except by their players) Broncos accuse the Jets of tampering with Marshall, who led the AFC with 104 receptions.

Could it get any worse?

It could if the Broncos are worse on the field than in the front office. Denver could be looking at a last place finish this season.

If you want my opinion, I think the Broncos will only win 4 games.

Read more Denver Broncos news on BleacherReport.com

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