The Cowboys were one of three teams who went for recently-waived quarterback Kyle Orton. However, priority order is sending Orton to Kansas City, instead of either Dallas or Chicago, his former team who could be looking to replace injured starter Jay Cutler.
Of the three teams that put a claim in for Orton, the Chiefs (4-6) had the worst record. The Cowboys (6-4) would've edged out to Chicago (7-3) had Kansas City not decided to take Orton, which means they will take on his current contract as well.
The Cowboys' interest in Orton is rather intriguing, and is likely factored by the recent injury to Jon Kitna. The veteran will miss his second straight game Thursday with a lingering back issue that might plague him the rest of the season, which could ultimately mean the rest of his career. Kitna has said this will be his final NFL season.
Orton, who is 33-33 as a starter in his six seasons with Chicago and Denver, was waived this week as the Broncos have clearly moved on with starter Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn as the backup. Orton started five games this year with the Broncos, going 1-4.
Adding a veteran such as Orton to the mix wouldn't be to put any pressure on starting quarterback Tony Romo and shouldn't suggest the Cowboys are unhappy with Stephen McGee, who is now the backup quarterback for this week and however long Kitna is out.
McGee showed the Cowboys some promise last season when both Romo (broken collarbone) and then Kitna went down at the end of the year. McGee nearly rallied the Cowboys to a Christmas win over Arizona and then won his first career start, beating Philadelphia in the final minute of play.
