Saw something on Pro Football Talk just a few minutes ago concerning this, and if the Vikings are thinking about picking up a quarterback to "bridge the gap" to starting Christian Ponder, I really don't think this is a terrible idea at all.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN is reporting that the Vikings are one of several teams that could potentially be interested in acquiring Denver Broncos' quarterback Kyle Orton in a trade after the lockout is lifted and teams are allowed to begin making deals.
Orton actually had himself a pretty decent year in 2010, the Broncos' record not withstanding. He completed 58.8% of his passes (293 completions in 498 attempts) for 3,653 yards in just thirteen games, and had a very impressive touchdown to interception ratio of 20/9. The Broncos averaged 20.7 points per game in Orton's starts. . .of course, they also allowed 28.9 points a game in those games, which explains why the Broncos were just 3-10 during that stretch. The Broncos went with Tim Tebow as their quarterback for the final three games of 2010.
There have been mixed signals coming out of Denver as to whether or not new Broncos' coach John Fox wants to go into the 2011 season with Orton as his starter, or turn the reins totally over to Tebow to see what they have. Despite Fox saying that Orton would be their starting quarterback in 2011, rumors have continued to swirl about Orton's availability.
I'll be honest. . .I agree with PFT's take on the situation in that, if I were a team looking for a quarterback, I'd be far more inclined to deal a third or fourth-round pick for Orton rather than the first-round pick plus a huge contract extension that the Philadelphia Eagles want for Kevin Kolb. At this point in time, Orton is probably a better quarterback than Kolb is. Obviously with the selection of Christian Ponder, the Vikings are out of the Kolb sweepstakes, but if they don't think Ponder will be ready to start on Day One, Orton would be a nice guy to have for a year or so.