Orton wants Cassel type money: about $50 million for 5 years with about $30 million guaranteed.
And he's NOT worth it! If Denver signs him long-term it's going to be a HORRIBLE cap move that will likely lose McDaniels his job in the long term -- just as signing Cassel to a long-term $14 million a year deal will not help Scott Pioli's career in KC.
The Broncos are going to re-sign him after the season. But, after next season it's going to be bluntly clear even to "Orton's Army" that he's NOT the answer at QB. So, what then? Cut him and take a $12 million cap hit or something?
Pay him $12-14 million to sit on the bench behind some rookie QB you draft in 2011?
It would be better if Orton still had another year on his contract. Then they could evaluate him for another year.
But, he just doesn't have the athletic skills to ever be an elite QB and you can't win the SB without one.
So, it's going to be back to the drawing board sooner or later. And frankly, the sooner they pull the trigger and let him go and draft a franchise QB, the better long term.
The BEST move for the Broncos would be to admit that this team is never going to win a championship as currently constituted and just go out and draft a franchise QB in 2009 and train him for 2 more seasons.
Orton was merely the best option available for trade at the time of the Cutler deal -- that doesn't mean he's good enough to be the Broncos franchise QB. He flat isn't.