According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Broncos are denying that quarterback Kyle Orton has ever been on the trading block.

Broncos official texted on report Denver had shopped QB Kyle Orton: “Kyle Orton Has NEVER been available or discussed. Ever! Period.”

The Broncos aren’t going to risk upsetting Orton by making it public that he’s on the trading block. Because if they do have intentions of trading him and a deal never goes through, then their starting quarterback will go through the entire season knowing that his team wanted to deal him in the offseason.

The Broncos find themselves in a tricky situation. Orton’s contract expires at the end of the year and with three developmental quarterbacks (Brady Quinn, Tim Tebow and Tom Brandstater) behind him on the depth chart, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Broncos to try to get something for the veteran QB now before he bolts at the end of the year.

Then again, the Broncos need to go with the quarterback that they believe gives them the best chance to win now. With a year of Josh McDaniels’ offensive system already under his belt, that player is Orton – not Quinn or anyone else. Will Orton get Denver to the Super Bowl this year? Probably not, but he’ll likely perform better than any other quarterback on the roster and therefore, it might not be worth it for the Broncos to trade him for a mid-round pick. (I’m just speculating what they would get for him, but it would most likely be a mid-to-late rounder.)

That said, if Quinn turns in a great training camp/preseason and proves that he can be a capable starter, then the Broncos would obviously be more apt to trade Orton before the season. It makes no sense to have two capable starters on the roster when one of them will surely be moving on in a year. Might as well get something in return for him now.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Before trading three picks in order to select Tim Tebow in the first round of last April’s draft, the Broncos acquired Brady Quinn in a trade with the Browns and already had veteran Kyle Orton and developmental quarterback Tom Brandstater on the roster. With all four of the signal callers listed on its depth chart, Denver now has a freaking mess surplus at the position.

The most likely scenario is that Orton will be the starter this year, while Quinn serves as his backup. Tebow will probably be worked into the offense in specialty packages and Brandstater will likely spend most of the season on the practice squad. Then, once Orton’s contract expires at the end of the year, Quinn and Tebow will battle for the starting job in 2011, while Brandstater assumes the No. 3 role.

But what if the Broncos shook things up right now? What if the team traded Orton and then Quinn, whom Josh McDaniels and his staff think very highly of, started? That would mean that Tebow would get more reps in practice (it’s easier for teams to give players more reps if they’re the backup than the No. 3) and the Broncos also wouldn’t have to worry about possibly losing Brandstater to another team. (Other teams can sign taxi squad players at will, as long as they put them on the active roster.)

As Woody Paige of the Denver Post writes, Orton isn’t the long-term answer in Denver. He merely serves as a bridge between now and whenever Tebow is ready to start, so why not trade him now? Quinn might not give the Broncos the best chance of winning, but it’s not like Orton is Peyton Manning.

McDaniels and the Broncos made it clear on the opening night of the draft that Tebow was their future. Seeing as how they traded for Quinn (who has starting experience, mind you), it might not be a bad idea for them to deal Orton if they can find any suitors. He’s going to leave after the season anyway, so it’s worth it for Denver to get compensation for him now if they can.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

After the Broncos’ traded multiple picks (rather foolishly in my opinion) in order to select Tim Tebow in the first round of last week’s draft, Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports wonders which quarterback will likely be the odd man out in Denver.

7. Who is the odd quarterback out in Denver?
In the perfect world, Tim Tebow would be on the roster to sit and learn and develop with nonstop NFL coaching. But he has to get some snaps, too, and the No. 3 quarterback rarely ever sees those. So you can bet that Tebow is going to get an opportunity to show he can be the backup with the Denver Broncos this season. And frankly, it’s not out of the realm of possibility he could swipe the starting job. It’s unlikely, but you can’t rule it out. The one guy who seems to suddenly be on the outside looking in is Brady Quinn. He was acquired for a low price – running back Peyton Hillis and fairly meaningless late-round picks in 2011 and 2012 – and has very little starting experience. So if you are going to deprive someone of practice reps, who are you going to pick? Your veteran starter Kyle Orton, your first-round pick in Tebow, or a guy who cost you almost nothing in Quinn? Seems like an easy answer.

What I don’t get is why the Broncos traded for Quinn in the first place. I understand they didn’t give up very much for him, but the trade for Tebow in the first round was very calculated. They kept trading back in order to acquire more picks so they could then trade up to select Tebow, so obviously they had a game plan. But what is their strategy now? Orton’s contract expires at the end of the year and Quinn’s expires in 2011. So maybe they’re planning on keeping all three quarterbacks and hoping Tebow emerges as the starter in either 2011 or 2012.

Either way, Josh McDaniels and GM Brian Xanders have created a fine mess for themselves in Denver. They have one average quarterback in Orton, one below average backup in Quinn and one massive project in Tebow. As Robinson points out, if the Broncos hope to develop Tebow then they’ll need to get him reps in practice and that means making him the backup. Which makes Quinn useless.

I know the Broncos are high on Tebow, but I have a feeling that this team will be in the market for a franchise-caliber quarterback sooner than they think.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports that the Broncos have acquired quarterback Brady Quinn from the Browns in exchange for fullback Peyton Hillis and two conditional draft picks. Glazer doesn’t provide any details outside of that, so it it’s unknown at this point what round the two draft picks are for.

Even though his dream was to be a Brown, this is a good situation for Quinn. In Denver, he’ll have the opportunity to run the exact same offense that he ran at Notre Dame, although he’ll have to beat out Tom Brandstater and Chris Simms to earn the right to backup Kyle Orton. Still, if he proves that he can run Josh McDaniels’ offense, he still has a chance to become a regular starter in this league.

As for the Browns, the recent signing of Jake Delhomme virtually secured a one-way ticket for Quinn out of Cleveland. Mike Holmgren hasn’t made his desire to upgrade the Browns’ quarterback position a secret and now Delhomme will battle Seneca Wallace for the team’s starting job.

It is still unclear at this point whether or not Holmgren will draft a quarterback in April. Neither Delhomme nor Wallace has long-term upside, so Holmgren will eventually have to add a young QB to the mix at some point. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll do it in April’s draft. He may have his eye on a potential free agent or believe that the quarterback class in 2011 is a stronger crop than the 2010 class. Who knows at this point.

I wrote more about the Browns’ quarterback situation this morning. You can read the post by clicking here.

Update: The Browns also traded Kamerion Wimbley to the Raiders for undisclosed draft compensation.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Browns have had trade discussions with other teams about quarterback Brady Quinn. Schefter doesn’t share any other details than that, so it’s unclear at this point which teams would be interested in the former first round pick.

It’s clear by the offseason reports that the new brass in Cleveland isn’t satisfied with its quarterback situation. The Browns traded for Seneca Wallace earlier in the week and released Derek Anderson on Tuesday, so with Quinn on the block Mike Holmgren could be gearing up to make a trade for a veteran quarterback.

But whom will he target? Donovan McNabb is the first name that comes to mind, but it sounds like the only way the Eagles will part with the veteran QB is if they can acquire a first round pick in return. Unless they trade down, it’s hard to see Holmgren giving up the No. 7 overall pick to acquire an aging McNabb.

Another name that makes sense is Matt Hasselbeck, whom Holmgren is obviously very familiar with. Rumor has it that the Seahawks have contacted the Eagles about a possible trade for either McNabb or Kevin Kolb and if one of them were acquired, Hasselbeck would then become expendable.

All of this remains a long shot right now (the Eagles maintain that they want to keep McNabb and Kolb), but this news about Quinn being placed on the trading block opens the door to several possibilities.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Browns have been in discussions with multiple teams in regards to trading for a quarterback.

According to a league source with knowledge of the situation, the Browns are discussing quarterbacks “on different levels.” It appears the Browns have concluded they are more apt to upgrade the quarterback position through trade rather than free agency.

Since President Mike Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert joined forces to take over Browns operations, they have talked of improving the offense in general and the quarterback position in particular. They naturally have been linked to passers on their former teams — Matt Hasselbeck of Seattle, and Donovan McNabb or Kevin Kolb of Philadelphia.

The Browns are expected to soon part ways with Derek Anderson, who is owed a $2 million roster bonus on March 19. There is also the possibility that Brady Quinn could garner some interest in a trade.

Given Holmgren’s history with the West Coast Offense and Heckert’s relationship with Philadelphia, the Eagles are a logical trading partner for the Browns. But it’s unlikely that the Eagles would part with Kolb and it’s even more unlikely that Holmgren would trade the No. 7 overall pick for McNabb. So are the Eagles and Browns actually a fit in the end? That’s debatable.

If the Browns do wind up making a move for a veteran QB, it would be surprising if Quinn weren’t involved in the deal. Holmgren won’t part with his top pick unless he can get a first rounder in return, thus it makes more sense that Quinn would be one of his biggest bargaining chips.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

ESPN.com breaks down several possible destinations for receiver Brandon Marshall if/when the Broncos decide to deal him this offseason.

· The first speculation was that Marshall would be headed to the Seahawks or the Redskins, via two of our NFL Nation bloggers.

· Cincinnati has the need for a second WR to go along with Chad Ochocinco, but we’re not sure the Bengals would want another head case.

· The Cowboys need a legitimate No. 1 WR and Jerry Jones would have no problem forking out cash for a new deal to Marshall.

· What about the Pats? Randy Moss isn’t getting any younger, and Wes Welker might be a shell of his former self after shredding his knee.

· Dave Krieger of the Denver Post speculated on some new spots: the Ravens, Dolphins and Cardinals.

Mike Klis of the Denver Post also throws out a Marshall-for-Brady Quinn scenario, but he’s just speculating – he has nothing to back that rumor up.

The problem the Broncos have is that Marshall’s trade value has never been lower. Teams know that he and head coach Josh McDaniels are at odds and that Denver wants to rid itself of him. The Broncos will be lucky to land a third round pick for him, which would be quite a steal for the team that acquires him.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

As Mike Holmgren enters his first offseason with the Browns, one of his biggest question marks is what to do at quarterback. With the way head coach Eric Mangini couldn’t make a decision regarding the position last year, Holmgren will have to decide whether or not to get rid of Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson, if not both and completely start over under center next year.

Holmgren recently spoke about the topic on WKNR earlier this week:

“Right now, I don’t know the situation quite well enough. I’ve been busy doing other things. Everyone knows that position is the most important position on a team. Is the quarterback of the Browns here already? Maybe. If not, then we’ll have to go free agency or draft. We’ll see.”

That doesn’t sound like a man that’s settled on any decision, making the quarterback position an interesting dilemma this offseason for Holmgren and the Browns.

Quinn was an utter disaster earlier in the year before Mangini replaced him with Anderson. But the unthinkable happened and Anderson was actually worse than Quinn was, forcing Mangini to once again start the first round pick.

Much like the entire team, Quinn played better down the stretch and actually looked like he started to gain confidence. But for the second time in two years, Quinn finished the season on IR after he suffered a season-ending foot injury in a win over the Chiefs late in the year.

Holmgren is making a wise decision by not committing to either quarterback, seeing as how neither of them have stepped up and grabbed the reins of the position. Chances are that Holmgren doesn’t view either of them as the long-term answer at quarterback and therefore, he might look to draft or acquire a signal caller this offseason. If he drafts a QB, he could part with either Quinn or Anderson and have the other one start until the rookie is ready to play.

We’ll see how Holmgren approaches this topic over the next couple months.

Photo from fOTOGLIF