Kyle Orton Chiefs: Claiming Orton Will Solve Nothing in Kansas City

Yesterday, Kyle Orton was a Denver Bronco. Today, he is a Kansas City Chief.

At least, such is what ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting. A day after the Broncos waived Orton, the Chiefs have claimed him. They will accept his rusty right arm into their midst, not to mention the rest of his contract.

For what it's worth, the Chicago Bears also put a claim in on Orton. That should come as a surprise to nobody.

That the Chiefs made a move on Orton should also surprise nobody. They lost Matt Cassel for the season with a right hand injury, and Tyler Palko didn't pan out very well in his first start against the New England Patriots on Monday night. He threw three interceptions, and generally looked totally overmatched.

At the absolute least, Orton gives the Chiefs a quarterback that they can slot ahead of rookie Ricky Stanzi on their depth chart if they so choose. 

The other thing the Chiefs could do is insert Orton as their starter right away, and then pray to the football gods that he's good enough to keep them relevant in the AFC West. 

That could happen, but it won't. No matter what the Chiefs' plans are for this transaction, I'd say they're pretty well doomed to be mediocre for the rest of the season.

Let's face it. The Chiefs started the season as a decent team, but at this very hour they are a bad team. Injuries obviously have a lot to do with that, and the writing was on the wall that the injury to Cassel was going to be the death knell. Bringing Orton aboard doesn't change that.

As for what the Chiefs should do with Orton, I guess they may as well start him. He's not a good quarterback, but he's a better option than Palko. Even if Orton is as bad as he was in Denver earlier in the season, he'll still be an upgrade.

Not that it will matter, of course. The Chiefs are 4-6, they're banged up, and their schedule down the stretch is pretty brutal. Their season is not going to end on a high note, no matter who is under center.

I'm sorry to be negative, Chiefs fans. But hey, the truth hurts.