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Tag: kyle orton

  • Kyle Orton Potentially Retiring; Bears Interested

    When Kyle Orton was drafted by the Chicago Bears with the 106th pick of the fourth round in 2005, it was safe to say that no one expected anything spectacular from the former Boilermaker. At the time of his signing, Rex Grossman was the Bears quarterback and no one dreamed that the rookie quarterback would see any playing time in his first year. However, after a preseason injury to Grossman, Orton found himself in the starting role for the Bears, leading an NFL team perhaps much too soon.

    Since that time, Orton has experienced a middling amount of success. With the only success Orton has experienced being a 2006 NFC Championship (a season during which he never saw any playing time), his name has consistently slid from the ranks of top-tier, or even wanted, quarterbacks, with his most recent action being his release from the Dallas Cowboys for failing to report to training camp.

    Despite this lack of success, Bears General Manager Phil Emery still holds out hope that Orton could be a successful, contributing member in the NFL community.

    I have great respect for Kyle. When I was in Kansas City, we brought him in. That’s the famous claim the Bears figured they would get [in 2011]. We claimed him. He came in. He started against the Bears; got hurt first or second play. At the time in Kansas City, we won the game. The next week, he starts against Green Bay, an undefeated Green Bay team [which] had the longest winning streak in football at that point. [He] beat them; beat them in Kansas City. Great leadership skills, guys really like playing for him, big arm. So the skill set is there. But as far as where he’s going in his career… that we don’t know.

    “[There’s] a lot of rumors in terms of him retiring. I certainly know that if he had an interest in playing, that would be out in the league. We’re extremely excited about Jay [Cutler], and we’re extremely excited about the competition we have for the backups. If we see a player at quarterback or any other position that can help us, we’ll certainly take a look,” stated Emery.

    While there are those who would question the decision to bring Orton in as a backup quarterback, Bears fans have to face reality. The two current backup options are Jimmy Clausen and Jordan Palmer, neither of which have had any success in the NFL at all, much less any real playing time. The addition of Orton could add an experienced, knowledgeable player to the Bears offense – something the team desperately needs.

    But, then again, if $3.5 million per year wasn’t enough to pique Orton’s interest in being a backup quarterback with the Cowboys, the Bears aren’t likely to have the resources to lure Orton to Chicago anytime soon.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Kyle Orton Expected To Show Up For Cowboys’ Offseason Training

    Kyle Orton is a veteran football player that began his career in 2005 with the Chicago Bears. Since then, he’s played for the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys. Now it appears that the quarterback has had enough.

    NFL.com reports that Orton still hasn’t shown up for the Cowboys’ voluntary offseason conditioning program. The no show has caused some to speculate that Orton won’t show up this season at all and will instead quit playing football. If he does that, he will have to return $3 million of a $5 million signing bonus he received when he agreed to play for the team in 2012.

    Of course, losing money isn’t the only reason that Orton would return to the Cowboys. In June, the Cowboys will hold its mandatory mini-camp in which a $70,000 fine is levied against those who don’t show up. If Orton doesn’t want to be fined, he will show up for practice at that time.

    The Cowboys’ quarterback coach -Wade Wilson – isn’t worried though. He says the team is “still hopeful” that Orton will show up for practice. Wilson isn’t entirely confident though as he has a backup plan in the form of Brandon Weeden. Weeden signed a two-year deal with the Cowboys last March after playing with the Cleveland Browns for two years. During his time with the Browns, Weeden showed promise, but was ultimately benched in the latter half of the 2013 season.

    Orton has more experience than Weeden, but he may not be in as good of shape as Weeden come practice time. If that’s the case, the Cowboys can cut Orton after June 1. For everybody’s sake, the Cowboys can only hope that Orton not only shows up, but brings his A game as well.

    If you want to hear more of Wilson’s thoughts on Orton and Weeden, be sure to check out this video at the Dallas Cowboys’ web site. Unfortunately, there is no embed so you’ll have to jump over there to view it.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Kyle Orton Throws Late Interception, Secures A Playoff Spot For The Eagles

    Well, the fans of the Dallas Cowboys are certainly used to last minute losses, and losing games due to interceptions.

    Oddly enough, it was not Tony Romo that did it to them this time, but Kyle Orton who threw a game-ending interception.

    Kyle Orton was brought in as the starting quarterback after Tony Romo suffered an injury in week 16 that was set to keep him out for the rest of the season, whether the Dallas Cowboys had made the playoffs or not.

    While Kyle Orton had an impressive performance for much of the game after not starting a game for several seasons, it was not enough to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles.

    The Eagles are a team that has been playing for the playoffs continuously, and have won 7 of their last 8 games. The Cowboys lost on yet another late interception, and will not be making the playoffs again after losing the game 24-22.

    After it was reported that Tony Romo was out, the Cowboys also made an interesting decision when signing the veteran Jon Kitna, who was previously retired at the age of 41. The Cowboys are seemingly out of options, and after missing the playoffs again, the may need to continue reworking their roster and their coaching staff.

    This marks the third year in a row that the Cowboys have been in a position to play for the playoffs in the last game of the season, where the have subsequently lost. Ironically, it was also to a different team in the NFC East each time, sending a different team to the playoffs each year that does not include the Cowboys.

    Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has plenty of experience seeing his team in this position. After the loss, he stated in a disappointing fashion, “It’s unthinkable, really, to me to be sitting here three years in a row and this game ends up putting us at .500 and this game eliminates us from going to the playoffs.”

    The Eagles offense has been something to marvel at throughout the 2013 season with the up-and-coming quarterback play of Nick Foles, and LeSean McCoy, who continues to shine as a running back, including setting a rushing record against the Detroit Lions.

    Last week, the Eagles beat the Chicago Bears in order to take control of the NFC East, despite the fact that the final game would determine which team went to the playoffs.

    Despite Kyle Orton’s heroic effort as Tony Romo’s replacement, the Cowboys were simply not able to shut down the Eagles’ offense. The late interception from Orton also sealed the game for the Eagles, and capped off another disappointing season for the Cowboys.

    Kyle Orton finished the game 30 of 46 for 358 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. It was Orton’s first start in two years, and while putting up fairly impressive numbers, the Cowboys never led in the game, and were unable to make the playoffs again.

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  • Kyle Orton Signs 3-Year Deal With Cowboys

    Kyle Orton Signs 3-Year Deal With Cowboys

    It’s official: the Dallas Cowboys have reached an agreement with Kyle Orton and have signed him on to what will be his seventh season, where he will back up current QB Tony Romo after playing for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos.

    The news was broken by Adam Schefter from ESPN today via Twitter:

     

    (image)@AdamSchefter
    Adam Schefter    Kyle Orton reached a three-year agreement with the Dallas Cowboys.(image) 1 hour ago via UberSocial for BlackBerry ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    You can watch a video of Schefter discussing the news on ESPN.com.

    Dallas has been looking for a reliable recruit ever since Jon Kitna announced he would be unable to finish the season last year and retired. Kitna was a veteran player who went 4-5 in 2010 after Romo suffered an injury to his collarbone that took him out of the game for the rest of the season. The Cowboys already had Orton in mind after Kitna’s injury but were forced to wait out his stay with the Chiefs, who claimed him first. Not everyone is pleased with their decision, however, as evidenced today on Twitter.

    (image)@NotBillWalton
    The Bill Walton Trip    Kyle Orton signs a 3-yr w/ Dallas. He went from backing up a QB who performs 4th qtr miracles to a QB who needs a miracle to survive the 4th(image) 1 hour ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@iJaredT
    Jared Truettner    Fail! Nothing can help the cowboys. RT @dallasnews: Report: Cowboys lock up veteran QB Kyle Orton to a three-year deal http://t.co/Qyfa5QfC(image) 3 minutes ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@KillaKev_
    Kevin H.     Idk how i feel about Kyle Orton going to Dallas; Romo is on notice for sure lol(image) 1 minute ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto