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Orton was claimed off waivers Wednesday by the Kansas City Chiefs, who were in the market for a veteran quarterback after losing Matt Cassel to a season-ending injury to his throwing hand.

Orton was released by the Broncos on Tuesday, six weeks after he was benched following a 1-4 start. The former Chicago Bears starter, who passed for 3,000 yards each of his first two seasons in Denver, became expendable when the Broncos opted to go with Tim Tebow as their starter.

The Chiefs will be responsible for approximately $2.5 million remaining on Orton’s nearly $8.9 million salary this season, but they had plenty of space under the salary cap to make the move.

Orton can become a free agent after this season.

“We have consistently communicated that we are always looking to create competition and depth within our team,” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said late Wednesday. “We feel adding Kyle to our roster reinforces that goal and we look forward to having him as a member of the Chiefs.”

Several other teams were interested in Orton, including the Bears, but the Chiefs were highest in the order of waiver priority and landed him. He’s expected to report to the Chiefs on Thursday, though it’s unlikely that he’ll be up to speed in time for Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh.

If that’s the case, Tyler Palko will make his second consecutive start. He was 24 of 37 for 230 yards and three interceptions in his first NFL start, a 34-3 loss to New England on Monday night.

“He never had a look that disturbed me before, after, during the game,” Haley said. “I know playing that position, there’s no greater test, and getting thrown in to the fire on Monday night and, oh, by the way, six days later playing Pittsburgh, it doesn’t get any harder.”

Now it appears that Palko will have to fend off Orton to keep the starting job.

“Todd told me after practice that they claimed Kyle, and that’s really it,” Palko said. “He didn’t tell me either way. Just full speed ahead for Pittsburgh.

“I’ve been the practice squad quarterback, I have been the No. 3, the No. 2, and the starter last week,” Palko added. “I prepare the same way, with the same intensity, and that hasn’t changed. I’ve never wavered or changed my mentality.”

The Chiefs waived wide receiver Keary Colbert, who surprisingly earned a job out of training camp after spending three years away from the NFL, to make room on the roster for Orton. Colbert appeared in seven games this season, making nine catches for 89 yards.

Orton, a former Purdue star, was a fourth-round draft pick and appeared on the way to stardom when he assumed the Bears’ starting job for 15 games as a rookie, winning 10 of them.

Often saddled with a reputation for being moody, Orton was demoted his second season in favor of veteran Brian Griese. He earned the starting job back late in 2007 and started 15 games for the Bears in 2008, passing for 2,972 yards with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

“He was a really good player,” said Chiefs running back Thomas Jones, who played with Orton in Chicago. “He’s a real good teammate.”

His stock never higher, Orton was traded along with a package of draft picks to Denver for Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler. In a curious twist of fate, it was an injury to Cutler that sparked Chicago’s interest in claiming its former starter off waivers.

Orton excelled his first two seasons in Denver in an offense run by Josh McDaniels, throwing for 7,455 yards and 41 touchdowns with 21 interceptions.

McDaniels was fired late last season, though, and while Orton remained the starter when John Fox took over, things got off to a bumpy start. Denver lost four of its first five games, and Fox turned to Tebow as the starter, effectively demoting Orton to the third string.

Orton’s career numbers bear a striking resemblance to those of Cassel, who was hurt near the end of the Chiefs’ 17-10 loss to Denver two weeks ago. Orton’s completed about 58 percent of his passes while making 66 career starts, with 79 touchdowns and 55 interceptions.

Cassel has started 54 games, completing 59 percent of his throws with 76 TDs and 46 picks.

The Chiefs, who are in the midst of a three-game skid that has threatened to eliminate them from contention in the AFC West, will try to get Orton up to speed quickly.

After facing the Steelers on Sunday night, they visit Chicago and the New York Jets, before returning home to face the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay. A division game against Oakland follows before wrapping up the season at Denver, a game that suddenly has a few more story lines.

“Good for him. Congratulations to him. That will be fun to play him the last game of the year,” Tebow said. “Obviously he knows pretty well, so he could probably give away a few things, but I think we’ll be OK.”

Well, won't this make for an interesting end of regular season finale game? On November 22, the Denver Broncos released QB Kyle Orton(notes) and the very next day we learn that the Kansas City Chiefs have picked up Orton on waivers.

I find this fitting since it was the Broncos that took out the Chiefs QB Matt Cassel(notes) during the November 13th game against the two teams. He suffered an injury to his right hand after being sacked by Elvis Dumervil(notes) and Von Miller(notes).

It will also create an interesting final regular season game between the Broncos and the Chiefs on January 1, 2012. For this reason, I also question why the Broncos let Orton go and how this could hurt the Broncos.

When it comes to the Broncos, Orton and new starting QB Tim Tebow(notes), it has been an interesting season. Orton began the season with a 1-4 record and fans throughout Denver were demanding that Tebow be put in as starter. Fans even went as far as having a billboard created to support Tebow as QB.

Of course, there are also the critics who have ripped apart Tebow and his ability to pass. These critics believed that the Broncos were better off keeping Orton in the game.

For Orton, I think this is a great move. With all the popularity and media attention Tebow is receiving right now, he has become all but forgotten on the bench. This will give him a chance to get back in the game and maybe show those critics that he can still play.

With Orton heading over to the Chiefs, the final game of the regular season will definitely become a battle of the quarterbacks and it should to prove to be an interesting match. While many teams facing the Broncos right now are working to defend against the option, Orton knows the plays and may be bringing an advantage to the Chiefs.

Personally, the New Year's Day game was not something that I was overly excited about. I figured it would just be a repeat of the November 13th game. But this news will definitely add a new twist. It will be interesting to see the two QBs up against each other and see if having Orton will help the Chiefs defend against Tebow and the Broncos. I don't think it will and predict that Tebow and the Broncos will walk away with another win.

Deborah Braconnier is a former athlete and has followed the Broncos since she was a child. Growing up in the days of the Orange Crush, she had a wall lamp made out of Orange Crush cans supporting her team. Working now as a freelance writer, she brings her love for sports to her writing.