Why Oakland Raiders Must Plunder QB Kyle Orton from Denver Broncos

The Oakland Raiders are 4-2 and actually in position to battle for both the AFC West division title and/or an AFC wild-card berth. Yesterday, those playoff chances took a big hit in their 24-17 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Starting quarterback Jason Campbell wasn't just injured, he was knocked out for the year with a collarbone injury.

Campbell certainly hasn't been great, but he was completing 60-percent of his passes and doing enough to keep defenses honest against Oakland's No. 2-ranked rushing attack.

The question now plaguing the Raiders and their attempt to secure a postseason berth for the first time since 2002 is who their quarterback is going to be.

Kyle Boller, a former first-round pick with immeasurable arm strength but little success in the NFL, struggled at times yesterday.

In fact, the Raiders scored two special teams touchdowns to overcome the Browns at the O.co Coliseum. Electrifying receiver Jacoby Ford took a kickoff 101 yards to pay dirt and punter Shane Lechler tossed a 35-yard touchdown to tight end Kevin Boss on a fake field goal.

It is never a good sign when your punter is the only one throwing touchdown passes for your team.

The Raiders face an interesting problem now. A little more than 24 hours still remain before the trade deadline, and there is a starting quarterback on the market.

Kyle Orton has finally been replaced by Tim Tebow as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos. Whether it be the right or wrong decision (it was the right decision) it leaves the Broncos with an $5 million dollar backup quarterback whom they should have traded away to the Miami Dolphins this preseason.

Now, with little leverage left in the situation, the Broncos are likely going to take any decent deal they can get.

This is where the Raiders come in.

If they can pry Orton away for Denver for a relatively cheap price (the Broncos want to offload that remaining $5 million in salary) there is little to lose in the situation. Orton didn't win much in Denver, but he did put up numbers and never had the help of a running game or defensive front like the one in Oakland.

If the Raiders choose to foolishly chase Carson Palmer then they are dooming themselves to Kyle Boller for better or worse.

Orton is a viable option; Palmer is a pipe dream.

Bringing in the veteran at least gives the Raiders another option to Boller. Raiders fans may not want to believe it, but this team's postseason hopes hinge on the decision of who should play quarterback for the rest of the season.

Unless they plan on running fake field goals on a regular basis with Shane Lechler, landing Orton as another viable option is the best play they have.