Early on in the Jay Cutler sweepstakes, it appears the Redskins are the top suitor for his services. Which is sort of bull, because the Redskins have already spend a lot of money this offseason, and they have an above average quarterback in Jason Campbell. Us Bear fans have suffered enough. Please stop being so greedy, Dan Snyder.

But, if you listen to Jay Cutler, it seems he never asked for a trade out of Denver. At least this is what he told Jay Glazer at UFC Fight Night 18 card in Nashville. Let’s go to the tape:

“I was surprised they decided to trade me this soon,” Cutler told Glazer in his first comments since the statement was released. “I didn’t want to get traded. This wasn’t me. (The Broncos) had been going back and forth saying things, wanting me to be their quarterback and then they didn’t.”  “I really didn’t want this. I love Denver. I really like my teammates. I didn’t want it to get this far.”

This contradicts Pat Bowlen’s statement which said, “Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos.” But whatevs. Culter still appears to be on the trading block. And as long as he still is, that means the Bears still have a chance of acquiring him.

Until the Redskins pull off a trade, that is. Sigh.

The relationship between Jay Cutler and the Broncos seems like something out of a tween relationship. Jay Cutler is not answering phone calls. He’s not answering text messages. He just wants out of this relationship, y’all.

So finally, officially, it appears to be over:

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen released a statement saying both he and McDaniels had been unable to get Cutler to call them back over the last 10 days. Bowlen said he spoke with Cutler’s agent, Bus Cook, on Tuesday and came away convinced “that Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos.”  Therefore, Bowlen said, “We will begin discussions with other teams in an effort to accommodate his request to be traded.”

With this latest news, nothing changes here for the Bears. When Cutler declared he wanted to be traded, they should have started inquiring. And now that the Broncos are publicity soliciting offers, they should still be pursing Cutler. Actively. Day and night. He’s an improvement over Kyle Orton, who Jerry Angelo claimed he wasn’t all too happy with last season.

To sweeten the deal for Denver, I’m thinking the Bears should offer the Broncos every quarterback that’s started for them since 1995.

That should be about equal value, right?

The recent news that Rangers shortstop Michael Young demanded a trade — Nolan Ryan apparently wanted him to play third base and pitch 240 innings this year — should come as relatively bad news for White Sox fans.

See, Kenny Williams has said that he has no interest in Young, but suddenly, with his trade value on a total freefall (that’s what happens when you refuse to play for your current team) that notion might change pretty quickly.

The White Sox like Young, but general manager Ken Williams strongly indicated last week that he was not pursuing a trade with the Rangers, telling the Chicago Tribune in an e-mail that he “would not waste time” discussing the possibility.

If the White Sox acquired Young, they likely would play him at second and follow through with their plan to move Alexei Ramirez to short. Young would fill the White Sox’s need for a leadoff hitter, but Williams repeatedly has stated his desire to go with younger, more affordable players in ‘09.

Young would be an absolutely ideal defender at second base for the ChiSox, but the problem is that he’s blatantly on the decline in terms of offense; his slugging percentage flirted with that dreaded “3″ number last year and, in even worse news, his OBP dipped to .339 — the same number he hit before he broke out in his 27- and 28-year-old seasons.

But the reality is that for Williams, Young might end up coming at too good a price to ignore; a potential sticking point, of course, could be that he won’t play second base. But if he’s willing to stay up the middle, there’s a pretty strong possibility you’ll see renewed interest from the Chicago side. And Texas? Well, they’re kind of stuck.