NFL Trade Rumors: Kyle Orton Close To Miami Move, Kolb Trade Affected?

Multiple sources are reporting that the Broncos and Dolphins are close to a trade that will send QB Kyle Orton to Miami. Jason LaCanfora is hearing it, Adam Schefter is hearing it and Dolphins beat writers are saying that Orton's people are negotiating a new contract with the Dolphins.

But how does this affect a potential Kevin Kolb trade? Well, we've been hearing for the last 24 hours all about "leverage." When Seattle dropped out of the QB race, the Eagles supposedly lost leverage in their negotiations with the Cardinals because there was one less team in the QB market and the Cards could still say they were considering Orton or Matt Hasselbeck. Well now, it appears as though the supply and demand curve is working against Arizona.

With Hasselbeck off the market and Orton probably coming off soon, the Cardinals are left as the only team with real demand for a QB and with Kevin Kolb being the only real supply. So any perceived leverage the Cards had is gone.

That said, I always felt like this concept of leverage was nonsense. We are talking about a team looking for a franchise QB here. A face of the organization and the most important player of the field. Teams will never "settle" for a QB if they have a choice. It's a position where you can't go cheap and if you don't have one you don't win. So if the Cardinals think Kevin Kolb is their best option, all this talk of leverage and what not was all peripheral. If it is true that they see Kolb as their guy, they were always going to do what it took to get him.

Maybe the leverage issue does add in a pick here or there or move a pick up a round... but the bulk of the deal would never have been affected.

That said, if the Cardinals were playing a leverage game, they probably should have gotten a deal done last night, before it became obvious they weren't getting Orton.