Broncos owner Pat Bowlen released a statement Tuesday saying both he and McDaniels had been unable to get Cutler to call them back during the past 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."

Cook didn't immediately return messages left by The Associated Press, and McDaniels, through a team spokesman, declined to comment.

"Jay is never going to play for that team again," a source told ESPN.com's Bill Williamson on Tuesday. "It is a trust issue. He could never trust McDaniels again. It's over."

Cutler, reached by the Denver Post for reaction to Bowlen's statement, responded in a text message: "I'm not talking about it."

The Post reported that according to a source, Cutler had been planning on attending the Broncos' April 17-19 minicamp, and even had his car shipped to Denver from Nashville, where he has been staying.

The Post also reported that according to the source, Cutler said he has not received any calls from the team since texting McDaniels last week.

Cutler has been unhappy ever since learning that McDaniels failed to inform him about trade talks in which the Broncos showed interest in Matt Cassel. Cassel wound up being traded by New England to Kansas City, and Cutler asked to be traded.

Still, McDaniels had faith he could repair the strained relationship with his temperamental quarterback -- if only he could get him to call him back. On Tuesday, he became convinced that just wasn't going to happen.

When told the owner was going to try to trade his franchise quarterback, linebacker Spencer Larsen said, "It's shocking. It didn't seem like he was going anywhere. This is the worst-case scenario."

Cutler skipped McDaniels' first team meeting in mid-March and the first 2½ weeks of the Broncos' offseason conditioning program, forfeiting a $100,000 workout bonus.

Cutler is halfway through the six-year, $48 million contract he signed as the 11th overall pick out of Vanderbilt in the 2006 draft. He's 17-20 as Broncos starter, although that's misleading because of Denver's dismal defense.