Two vets vie for Broncos’ QB job

April 7, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The quarterback quandary in Denver is over. Not so the competition.

Kyle Orton and Chris Simms have been told they have to earn the right to replace Jay Cutler, who was traded to Chicago last weekend, ending a six-week soap opera that began when the Pro Bowl passer decided he didn’t want to play for new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels.

On Monday, Orton, acquired from the Bears, and Simms, a free agent signing, met with the Denver media for the first time. They each said all the right things after a winter in which Cutler said all the wrong things — or in the case of not returning the Broncos’ phone calls, nothing at all.

Orton and Simms said it was a thrill to work for the man who helped Tom Brady and Matt Cassel thrive in New England. They professed indifference to the fact McDaniels might draft a quarterback later this month. And they welcomed the competition for the starting job.

“That’s the only thing I’ve ever asked for in my career,” said Orton, a veteran of so many dueling quarterback dramas with Rex Grossman in Chicago. “If you get that, that’s all you can really hope for. Chris is a good quarterback, smart player, he’s won a lot of football games himself.

“So, we’ll have a good quarterback on the field.”

Simms said the notion he might also be vying for the starting job with a rookie who’s not even on the roster yet doesn’t bother him.

“To be a quarterback in this league, you’ve got to have thick skin and be able to let things roll off your shoulders,” Simms said.

Cutler’s inability or unwillingness to embrace that philosophy is precisely what led to his departure. Cutler became disenchanted in Denver when he learned the team had talked about trading him.

So the Broncos sent him to Chicago along with a fifth-round draft pick for Orton, two first-rounders and a third-rounder.

Therefore, all signs would seem to point toward Orton having the edge on Simms. He’s 21-12 as a starter, including 15-2 at home, the best mark in the NFL since he joined the league in 2005.

Simms has started 16 games in six seasons, and he’s thrown just two passes since undergoing emergency surgery to remove his spleen after a game in 2006.

He signed a two-year, $6 million deal originally to back up Cutler, but now finds himself in an open competition with Orton, who will make about $1 million this season in the final year of his contract.

“When I signed, I kind of knew what my role was going to be,” Simms said. “But things change over the course of two or three weeks.”

Neither quarterback, however, would say he felt the starting job was his to lose or keep.

“I’m another quarterback on the team and the best players are going to play,” Orton said. “I think coach has made that clear for all positions, and quarterback is no different. So, really I’m just focusing on coming in, learning the system, getting to know the guys and playing the best football that I can.”