Kyle Orton was able to make off with a little more than $3 million from the Dallas Cowboys after making it appear he was headed to retirement, leading many Cowboys to react with anger when the quarterback instead ended up signing with the Buffalo Bills to continue his NFL career.
Orton made threats of retirement throughout the offseason, leading to a standoff with the Cowboys in which he refused to report to OTAs or training camp. Had he actually retired Orton would have had to pay back a prorated part of his signing bonus, but instead the Cowboys gave in and released Orton in July, allowing him to keep the money.
Now after skipping preseason and the rigors of training camp, Kyle Orton has gone back on his ideas of retirement and signed with the Buffalo Bills , leaving many Cowboys fans feeling duped.
Frank Schwab of the Yahoo Sports blog Shutdown Corner notes:
So Orton got to keep the $3 million he was going to have to pay back if he retired, got to escape Dallas – which, apparently was the goal, considering he was due a $3.25 million base salary from the Cowboys, which isn’t bad… and yes, feel free to make a joke about Orton rather playing for the Bills than the Cowboys – and landed a backup job behind a quarterback who has looked shaky all preseason.
It’s probably fair to say Orton won’t be asked back for any reunions at Cowboys Stadium by owner Jerry Jones anytime soon.
Online, many Cowboys fans were calling out Orton for what appeared to be a cash grab from Dallas. Many had speculated that Orton’s plan all along was to get the Cowboys to release him, but still team owner Jerry Jones went along with it.
For Orton, the future is now much brighter than in Dallas, where he was solidly behind starter Tony Romo. The former Denver Broncos starter now has a good chance to move into a starting role again, with injury-prone second year player E.J. Manuel ahead of him.
To top if off, Kyle Orton will reportedly be making $5 million a year from the Buffalo Bills.
