The Broncos trade for Brady Quinn!

The Kyle Orton Era in Denver may be at it’s end or perhaps the Broncos were just getting a football ready back-up. Either way the trade between the Broncos and Browns is a done deal with Brady Quinn heading to Denver and underutilized Peyton Hillis with a few draft picks is headed to Cleveland. In 2008, the Broncos and Browns were trying to facilitate a trade when QB Jay Cutler was on the block but the Broncos decided to go with the package that Chicago offered that included Kyle Orton and 2 first round draft picks. The question now becomes who is better long term for Denver, Orton or Quinn.

In Cleveland, Brady completed a paltry 53 percent of his passes for 1,339 yards with eight touchdowns and threw seven interceptions for a QB rating of 67.3. Those are hardly numbers that you want your starting QB to have. Meanwhile Kyle Orton had a 62% completion percentage and 21 TD’s with a QB rating of 86.8. The Broncos didn’t have to give up much to get Quinn, whether or not that is sign of his talents or lack their of is open for interpretation. Peyton Hillis became a fan favorite in Denver when 7 Running Backs went to IR, Hillis moved from Fullback to Running Back and performed admirably. He ran hard and displayed great hands out of the backfield. For whatever reason, Broncos Coach Josh McDaniels rarely used Hillis and decided that he could become expendable. The Browns hungry for versatile backs made the deal happen. The writing was on the wall for Quinn after the Browns brought in Senaca Wallace and Jake Delhomme to compete for roster spots.

It’s unknown at this point if Quinn was brought in to compete against Orton for the starting spot or that McDaniels didn’t feel confident in Chris Simms as a back-up after his dismal time against Washington when the Broncos lost a game when Orton left with an injury. Simms threw 2 costly interceptions and looked very rusty after spending so much time away with a ruptured spleen that he suffered when he played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The connections between coaches and familiarities with styles was a factor as well. Brady Quinn played college ball at Notre Dame under Charlie Weiss who worked as an Offensive Coordinator under Bill Belichick. Josh McDaniels came to Denver after spending all of his NFL career before as a Patriot’s assistant. Perhaps McDaniels feels comfortable with a player who has somewhat of a grasp of what he wants to do offensively.

In the end, Quinn gets a fresh start with Denver after a rough time in Cleveland. He was taken in the 1st Round of the 2007 Draft and never quite became the QB that the City had hoped for. Just like Quinn, Hillis too gets a chance to start over again and for Bronco fans they just hope that McDaniels has as much success with this Brady that he did in New England with a QB that shared the name!