By Sam Adams

Less than 24 hours after the Rocky Mountain News closed its doors for good, Broncos coach Josh McDaniels all but lost his mind.

Who knew what effect we had on the sanity of young Coach Mickey D?

McDaniels’ first major free agent signing of the off-season is a veteran defensive back who is three years older than the head coach. Safety Brian Dawkins comes over from the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s expected to provide leadership for the Broncos defense.

Personally, I’m thinking leadership is necessary, but can only go so far in keeping Philip Rivers from connecting with passes to Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson. At age 35, just how fast do we expect Dawkins to be in pass coverage?

Never mind the contract length — five years. Dawkins won’t be around at age 40. He’ll probably be done after this season if the Broncos don’t find some quality pass rushers to chase and sack the quarterback and make the job for the secondary a lot easier.

Ah yes, there’s that quarterback controversy/issue/stuff. Seems Mickey D thought about trading Jay Cutler. For Matt Cassel. I get it. Sort of.

McDaniels and Cassel worked together quite well under duress in New England last season. Tom Brady went out with a season-ending knee injury in the first regular season game.

Cassel threw only 33 passes in college and held a mop in three NFL seasons behind Brady. He came on and threw for over 3,600 yards and 21 touchdowns.

The Patriots won 11 games but missed the playoffs on tie-breakers.

Cutler threw for more than 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. He was voted to the Pro Bowl. The Broncos won eight games, blew a three-game lead in the division and missed the playoffs on a tie-breaker with the San Diego Chargers.

Actually, Denver missed the postseason on an embarrassing nationally-televised blowout loss in San Diego. Or you could pin it on the numbing loss at home to the inept Buffalo Bills or the Broncos lack of effort in a beat-down at Carolina the week before that.

Or you could point to a blowout loss at home to the Oakland Raiders, a beating earlier in the year at Kansas City, or poor outings at home in losses against Jacksonville and Miami — all games in which Cutler turnovers helped put the Broncos in holes they could not escape.

And I didn’t even mention referee Ed Hochuli’s blown call, which gave the Broncos a lucky win at home over San Diego. Without Hochuli, the Broncos would have finished 7-9 for the second year in a row.

Now before you go all crazy about me laying blame on Cutler and overlooking the Broncos pathetic defense, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not overlooking the Broncos defense. They were pathetic. But the quarterback didn’t help the cause.

See, to me, if Cutler were to cut down on his mistakes (go back and count his interceptions and fumbles over the last two seasons), that pathetic defense isn’t on the field as much. Maybe they give up 399 points instead of 448.

Actually, the Broncos defense didn’t give up 448 points in 2008. Interceptions that are returned for touchdowns shouldn’t count on the defense’s ledger.

So back to this Cutler-McDaniels thing. Maybe Coach Mickey D watches film and sees major flaws in Cutler’s game. Maybe Cutler doesn’t have quite the same work ethic or study habits as Cassel. Maybe the coach is expecting something more from his new quarterback than what he’s seen so far in the off-season.

Or maybe Coach Mickey D just had a mental hiccup. You know, the classic brain fart that leads you to pick up phone and talk trades with Tampa Bay and Detroit, dangling a first-year Pro Bowl quarterback as the primary bait.

Whatever the case, McDaniels wanted Cassel. Didn’t get him. Cutler was hurt, bitter, upset and angry. The two will meet soon to clear the air. And maybe they will sit and go over some of the new playbook too.

Cutler’s got major NFL talent, but at last check, he’s not a great quarterback. He’s just reaching the “good” level, by my book. Still a Mr. Potential-head after three NFL seasons.

He hasn’t won a playoff game. He hasn’t been to a playoff game.

Four times the Broncos have played games with Cutler at quarterback and a playoff berth at stake. They lost to San Francisco in the regular season finale in 2006. They lost three times in a row with a chance to clinch the AFC West in ‘08.

For his career Cutler has a record of 17-20 as a starting quarterback. In the NFL, it’s all about winning games — especially big games. He hasn’t proven himself yet as a big-game winner. Same holds true for Mickey D. He’s got Super Bowl rings — three of ‘em — with the Patriots.

None, however, have been earned as a head coach.

McDaniels can’t have Cassel. He could have Jeff Garcia, Byron Leftwich, Gus Frerotte or Brad Johnson. Those guys are available in free agency. Or Coach Mickey D can kiss and make up with Jay Cutler.

And Cutler can check his ego at the door, spend more time working on his game with the new coach and realize that actions on the field, not pouting off it, is what wins championships in the NFL.