Trade deadline: Bill Polian rues Indianapolis Colts’ QB Kyle Orton failed hiring chance -NFL News
Former Indianapolis Colts' vice president-turned-football punter, Bill Polian, has spoken of Colts’ ruined chances of acquiring quarterback, Kyle Orton, from Denver Broncos in the 2011 season, which could have changed the landscape of the team’s performance,
altogether.
Polian, who lost his job due to the team’s poorest 2-14 ending in the 2011 National Football League (NFL) regular season, is rueful of the NFL trade deadline, in the sixth week of the regular season. It prevented Colts from trading the QB.
The NFL has now moved the deadline from Week 6 to Week 8, and Polian said had that been the case a year earlier, Colts could have taken on board Orton and that could have helped the team come out of the season with a record far better than 2-14.
He said:
"I think the deadline being moved last year would have made a difference for us."
Polian added:
"We would have rekindled our interest in Orton. In Week 6, we knew our quarterback situation was not great, but after a couple more weeks, we realized the situation was bad. We probably would have called Denver, who'd gone to (Tim) Tebow by then, and said,
'Hey, we'll give you a three (third-round draft choice) for Orton.' "
In absence of Peyton Manning, for the first time, Colts finished the season at 2-14. The result did not please the owner, Jim Irsay, at all. He soon after coming out of the season fired Polian and other officials, including coaches.
Polian admitted that his decision of leaving Manning on the active roster instead of finding and grooming his replacement, cost him his job.
Manning was out with a neck injury throughout the season but Polian’s was the most heard voice in favour of the player. He hoped for the player’s return to the squad some time in the season, which never happened.
Since his release from Colts, Polian has become an NFL analyst, commenting on different aspects of the game.
He has always been vocal about Manning’s chances of return from the neck surgery to be able to play football at his previous strength.
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