NFL Rumors: Chicago Bears open to reunion with Kyle Orton
By Hayden Kane
Kyle Orton and Jay Cutler were once traded for one another as the key pieces of a blockbuster deal between the Chicago Bears and the Denver Broncos. Now those two might be teammates, with one backing up the other.
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As if Orton’s life has not been strange enough over the last year or so, the veteran QB could have the possibility of moving on from his situation in Dallas to going home to his old team to be a backup. Part of his odd departure from Dallas was that he was said to be pondering retirement before the Cowboys released him.
Now a free agent with an admittedly uncertain status, Orton will presumably end up somewhere as a backup quarterback. In that role he still stands to be a decent option, and the Bears might be one team that would take a look.
General manager Phil Emery said as much, indirectly, this week (from ESPN Chicago):
"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……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.”"
The Bears gave Cutler a huge deal this off-season. Now they could potentially have a backup plan for their big-money quarterback in the guy who they dealt for him (in addition to draft picks) in the first place.