NFL Trade Speculation: Why Kyle Orton Is a Better Trade Option Than Kevin Kolb

The offseason (if that's what you call it) has been dominated by talk about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb and his potential suitors for the 2011 season.

Why?

I'm not sure.

For even as an extremely passionate Philadelphia Eagles fan, I fail to see the hype surrounding quarterback Kevin Kolb.

The hot quarterback on the market should be Kyle Orton of the Denver Broncos.

Orton, 28, is entering his seventh season in the National Football League. He has made 61 starts with the Chicago Bears and the Denver Broncos, winning 32.

Orton led the Bears to victories in nine of his 15 starts in 2008, but posted a passer rating of just 79.6. But over the past two seasons. He has established himself as an above average quarterback.

He threw for 3,802 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2009, posting an 86.8 passer rating. In 2010, he tossed 20 touchdowns against just nine interceptions, once again posting an above-average passer rating.

Orton is never going to win a passing title. He's not going to lead any team to the Super Bowl. But he is at worst an average starting quarterback in the National Football League. I'd rank him slightly above average.

And if I'm building an NFL franchise, I'll take Orton over Kevin Kolb any day.

Kolb is entering his fifth season and will be 27 years old by the time the NFL season starts.

And he has exactly seven starts under his belt. Three victories and four losses.

He's earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors twice and turned in a brilliant passing performance against the eventual top-seeded Atlanta Falcons in 2010 (23-of-29 for 326 yards, three touchdowns and one interception).

Yet he's done virtually nothing else in his career.

He has a career touchdown-to-interception ratio of 11 to 14. His passer rating is a very unimpressive 73.2. His 6.5 yards per pass attempt is nothing out of the ordinary and he struggles to hold onto the football, with nine career fumbles.

He threw seven touchdowns and seven interceptions last season, and that's WITH a spectacular receiving corps that includes DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and Brent Celek, as well as a Pro Bowl-caliber running back in LeSean McCoy.

Imagine how Kevin Kolb would do on a poor team.

I'm not saying that he wouldn't succeed. He might. But he's not going to take a team like the Arizona Cardinals and turn them into playoff contenders, even in the weak NFC West.

The Cardinals (and yes, that's where I think the Cardinals will go) won five games last season with the likes of Derek Anderson, Max Hall and John Skelton at quarterback.

How many games do I think they would win with Kevin Kolb at quarterback in 2011?

Six. Maybe seven.

How many would the Cardinals win with Kyle Orton?

Seven. Eight. Maybe nine.

Orton is an established veteran who knows how to not turn the ball over and limit his mistakes. He is a much more attractive option to any team than Kevin Kolb, who may or may not have a solid NFL career, but at this point, hasn't done anything in his career.

Yet.