Should Chiefs Claim Kyle Orton?

Yesterday, the Denver Broncos waived their once starting quarterback Kyle Orton. If claimed, the Broncos would save the remaining $2.6 million remaining on his salary, which was just going to waste anyway. Several teams have recently lost their starting quarterbacks over the last couple of weeks, and the time seemed right for the Broncos to release Orton. Rumor even has it that Orton pushed for his release after it was announced that Jay Cutler would miss perhaps the rest of the season due to a broken finger on his throwing hand.

Yesterday, many analysts immediately started speculating where Orton could wind up. Jay Glazer reported that the Chiefs, Texans and Bears all made sense, since all their QBs had suffered season-threatening injuries. Other reports started coming out that the Texans were not interested after all and that it would come down to the Chiefs and Bears. Glazer then reported that both the Chiefs and Bears would put claims on Orton. Other sources started backing off that, saying the Bears would definitely put a claim on him (according to a league source) but that the Chiefs were still just considering it. The story remained the same this morning.

Well, no matter what the decision is, teams have until 3:00 central time to put in their claim. And since the Chiefs have priority over the Bears based on this season's record, if they are interested, they can have him (barring, of course, any sleeper team that wants to claim Orton before the Chiefs).

Since sources inside the Chiefs are saying that claiming Orton is a realistic possibility, fans have to consider it one as well. So, will the Chiefs claim Kyle Orton on waivers? Should the Chiefs claim Kyle Orton on waivers?

Will the Chiefs Claim Kyle Orton

• In my opinion, I don't think the Chiefs will claim Orton. Orton represents $2.6 million that I doubt the Chiefs really want to spend. 
• After Jamaal Charles went down for the season with a torn ACL, there were two opportunities to pick up running backs on waivers. Steve Slaton from the Texans and Tashard Choice from the Cowboys. And although both players were claimed by teams with worse records than the Chiefs (the Dolphins and Chiefs were both actually winless at the time), it was never rumored that the team was even interested in these options.
• The Chiefs are 4-6, tied for last place in the AFC West. They are two games back of the Raiders and face the toughest remaining schedule. If the Chiefs were planning on having Orton compete for the starting role, then you have to realistically give him a couple of weeks (based on the Carson Palmer learning curve) to grasp the offense. We could be 4-8 by then and officially out of contention for anything. Unless the Chiefs believe that Orton is a long term answer (which he's not), then the signing wouldn't make any sense. 

Should the Chiefs Claim Kyle Orton

• Orton is, essentially, the same type of player that Matt Cassel was. Before being benched in favor of fan-favorite Tim Tebow, Orton was 91/155 (58.7%) for 979 yards, 8 TDs and 7 INTs. If you've watched the Chiefs this season, you know those numbers are quite similar to Cassel's throughout this season. So if the Chiefs believe that Tyler Palko can hold down the fort and deliver two straight wins to keep the Chiefs in the AFC West picture before Orton could take over the reigns, then I guess it makes sense. But if Palko was to win two straight games, then why not keep him as the starter?
• Chris Mortensen of ESPN said earlier today that the Chiefs make sense for Orton because Orton did well under Josh McDaniels and there are some system similarities. Even Todd Haley wouldn't hinder the thought, saying on SiriusXM radio this morning that Orton is "an interesting name who could add to the position." While I agree with that, if Orton is claimed, I don't see how he can be anything but a backup this late in the season. And what's the point of signing a $2.6 million backup?
• John Clayton of ESPN suggested on SportsCenter today that if the Chiefs did claim Kyle Orton on waivers, that there's a chance Orton might not report to Chiefs camp. I know this is not hard facts, but it still doesn't sound good.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I don't think the Chiefs will or should claim Kyle Orton off of waivers. Perhaps three weeks ago if Cassel's injury had happened sooner and Orton was made available, but it's too little too late at this point in the season.