The Kansas City Chiefs claimed Kyle
Orton off waivers from the Denver Broncos on Wednesday, preventing the Bears
from reuniting with their former quarterback in their hour of need.
Chicago, which is without Jay Cutler
indefinitely to a broken thumb, appeared to be a likely landing spot for Orton,
whom the Broncos suddenly sent packing Tuesday amid reports that Orton wanted
to head back to the Bears, where he began his career. Instead, the 7-3 Bears
will continue their playoff push with Caleb Hanie at QB and Josh McCown backing
him up — Chicago announced it had signed McCown just moments after the Chiefs’
waiver claim became public knowledge.
Kansas City also had a need at
quarterback, with Matt Cassel placed on injured reserve this week because of a
broken hand. Tyler Palko started in his place Monday in New England, but did
next to nothing in a 34-3 loss.
Andrew Brandt of the National Football
Post tweeted that, in addition to Kansas City and Chicago, Dallas also put in a
claim on Orton. Because of their waiver priority, had the Chiefs not landed
Orton, he would have headed to Dallas instead — the Bears were 30th in the
waiver order, several spots below the Cowboys.
The big question now for the Chiefs is
if Orton will report. He’s due more than $2.5 million over the remainder of the
year, but there was some speculation that he would only play for Chicago.
Holding out would cost him that money, and with the trade deadline long gone,
Kansas City would not have many alternatives other than holding on to Orton.
If Orton does head to K.C., he’ll step
in as soon as possible as the Chiefs’ starting QB — Kansas City hosts
Pittsburgh on Sunday night, then plays (ironically enough) at Chicago in Week
13.
The Chiefs are running out of time to
turn their season around and reenter the division race, but they do close the
year with back-to-back games against first-place Oakland and second-place
Denver.
The bigger impact from all of this may
come in the NFC, where Chicago currently holds the final playoff spot. The
Bears have a tenuous lead over the 6-4 Falcons and 6-4 Giants, who are tied
with Dallas for first in the NFC East.
Hanie has never started an NFL game
and has not thrown a pass yet this season. Over his four-year career, all of
which have been spent with Chicago, he’s just 8-for-14 passing during the
regular season. He did throw 20 passes in the Bears’ postseason loss to Green
Bay last year, after Cutler was sidelined by injury and Todd Collins was
benched.
Does Orton have anything left in the
tank? The 29-year-old started 13 games in Denver last season, then spent the
first five games of 2011 as the Broncos’ No. 1 QB. However, he was replaced by
Tim Tebow after Denver opened the season 1-4 — Orton posted a 75.7 QB rating
with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions during that span.
How much he impacts the AFC West race
depends on several factors, starting with his desire to play in Kansas City.
But Orton may have played a major role in the NFC race, simply by not making it
to Chicago.
SI.com
No comments:
Post a Comment