DENVER -- Before Jay Cutler and Josh McDaniels fell into a confusing confrontation over trade talks, Cutler was already suspicious about his future with the Denver Broncos.

Bus Cook, Cutler's agent, said on Monday that "Jay was disappointed in the firing of Mike Shanahan and met with the owner. The owner assured him everything would be fine. The owner said he had the second-best offense in football and would leave the offensive staff intact. Jay was good with that. Then he hires an offensive coach who gets rid of the staff."

Shanahan was fired on Dec. 30 after the regular season ended. Owner Pat Bowlen told NFL.com Wednesday that "at that point there was no need to have a discussion with Jay. Now, actually, to be fair I don't think I had that discussion. I don't recall it. I know I'm getting up there in age, and I am not sure of that discussion."

When McDaniels was hired, he began to build his own offense with a hand-picked team. Cutler's attitude at that point was he wouldn't be part of that team.

"But I never requested a trade for Jay then," Cook told NFL.com. "That is simply not true.

"Jay met with the coach early on and then told me everything was going to be OK. He said, 'We are going to work this out; we are on the same wavelength.' Everything was fine until Saturday two weeks ago. Jay called me and asked, 'Are they trying to trade me?' I told him, 'No, why would they try to do that?'"

That's when the story broke that the Broncos had discussions about a trade with Matt Cassel. Cutler said he lost trust in McDaniels because of the way the entire episode was handled.

"I would like to keep him here, obviously. But if you are going to be an unhappy camper, there is no real reason to be here." - Pat Bowlen

"We told them the evening of our last meeting that Jay wanted to be a Bronco even before the meeting," Cook said. "Jay told them he understood about the coach's relationship with Matt Cassel. At no time was the coach critical of Jay. In fact, he told Jay soon after he got to Denver that Jay was the reason he came to Denver. So, why was he trying to trade him? All the guy had to do was say I dropped the ball, I have a special bond with Cassel, you are my guy. Jay never heard that. What he heard in the meeting was it could happen again."

Bowlen said he realizes the mess. When asked if he wants Cutler to remain on the team, his answer didn't bring any clarity.

"To tell you the truth, I have no answer to that question," Bowlen said. "I would like to keep him here, obviously. But if you are going to be an unhappy camper, there is no real reason to be here."

"Obviously, I am not going to criticize the head coach," Bowlen said. "I think he was trying to be a head coach. As I see it, Jay got upset about things and his feelings were hurt, and here we are. I am not going to weigh in on who is to blame here. This whole incident has been written about and talked about, and I am moving on, personally. We're getting ready for the draft and ready to play next season."