Robbed

The Denver Broncos pulled off one of the biggest swindles in NFL history. Not since a hapless Chicago Bears gave away a first round pick for a worthless Rick Mirer in 1996 has there been such a misguided and desperate trade. Kyle Orton plus 2 first round picks and a third round pick for Cutler and a fifth round pick is insane. I personally think that Orton is a better QB. He's not the prototypical big, strong armed QB who can throw the deep ball and make the big plays like, oh say, Rex Grossman. He's a smart QB who makes the high percentage throws and doesn't make many mistakes, like Joe Montana, or if you think that's too favorable a comparison, then Dave Krieg without all the fumbles. Plus he's not an egomaniacal head case. Orton will be able to make some throws underneath and let Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal turn them into big plays. And with the draft picks thrown in they can shore up some holes on defense. This is a huge win for the Broncos.

The really intriguing part for Seahawks fans is that the Broncos might be looking at Orton as a stop gap and with the extra first round pick might be willing to trade up to the Seahawks spot to get Stafford or Sanchez. Or I'd be happy to take Orton to trade down. The opportunity to pick up an impact OT and still get something else has me salivating. And despite recent talk that the Hawks might draft a QB 4th overall, I find that completely inconceivable.

This ended up turning into a bigger Orton love fest than I had originally planned, but I really believe this trade has the opportunity to end up benefiting the Seahawks in a big way. And until things shake out a little more, I'll hold off on my annual draft predictions.

***Update***
Thank you Chuckman for pointing out that Orton is much less of a salary cap hit as well.

His biggest down side, as I see it, is his hideous beard.