So what was he suppose to do? Whaley did the right thing and gave Fred advance notice in March, before he cut him, that he would be cutting him. Let him talk to other teams, let him get a deal done. Then the Pegulas step in and say, "You can't cut Fred he's too important to the community/team." What was Whaley suppose to do, ignore his boss? #GoRogue? So he tells Fred that he isn't going to cut him and now he looks like the bad guy.
I don't really see a problem with what Whaley did, I honestly have more of a problem if the Pegulas are interfering with football decisions. Whaley is here to make football decisions, if that decision includes cutting a popular player, so be it. It happens.