Peyton Manning: Predictions

[smuggler]

He's going to get cut and sign elsewhere

[King Friday]

The guy is not retiring...I don't think the Colts mind having him back (at a reduced salary) but will he want to return to Indy with Luck waiting in the wings? I can't see the two being on the same team. It is a different scenario than Rodgers sitting behind Favre, who wasn't coming off injury and when Rodgers wasn't the #1 overall selection. I'm guessing Manning may want to go elsewhere, which is why his group has already floated that he'd be OK with a more incentive laden contract structure.

I think Manning will move on to another team...KC seems like the best fit to me. Easy division, plenty of offensive weapons in place, and defensive minded HC that will allow Manning to do his own thing.

[Kiwon]

More food for thought...

[pbmax]

Why Duke? The family is from Mississippi and Duke plays football like I play soccer (horribly and as if I had never witnessed the game before). Is it a subliminal message to expect terrible play and then be pleasantly surprised?

Or was he treated at the Medical Center there?

[KYPack]

Option 2. Can't begin to guess where he signs.

Miami
Seattle
DC
Cleve

Who knows?

[Harlan Huckleby]

I don't think it is that mysterious. He's done with the Colts, and from comments he's made, ready & wanting to continue career. Question is where.

[King Friday]

Why Duke?

His QB coach or OC coach (can't remember which) from Tennessee is now coaching at Duke...which is why he's down there working out.

[Kiwon]

Report: Colts to release Peyton Manning Wednesday

The Peyton Manning Era in Indianapolis will end Wednesday, according to a report.

The Colts will release the four-time NFL MVP, opting not to pick up his $28 million roster bonus and leaving him free to sign with any team, reports ESPN's Chris Mortensen. The team will announce the move Wednesday in a press conference attended by team owner Jim Irsay and Manning, according to Mortensen.

Manning, 35, still wants to play football after sitting out the 2011 season following multiple neck surgeries. He watched from the sidelines as the Colts finished 2-14, securing the No. 1 pick, which they are likely to use on former Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.

The team fired the personnel management team of Bill and Chris Polian, installing Ryan Grigson as the team's new general manager.

Manning, who led the Colts to a Super Bowl victory following the 2006 season, played 14 seasons and did not miss a start before 2011. He has been medically cleared to resume playing football, and has worked out in North Carolina and Florida this offseason. He can sign with any team immediately following his release.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2012/03/report-colts-to-release-peyton-manning-wednesday/1

[Freak Out]

This is going to get interesting.

[Kiwon]

This is going to get interesting.

So GM Freak Out, what contract would you give him? How long? How much coin?

[packrulz]

I would think he'd have to pass a physical before any team would sign him.

[Freak Out]

So GM Freak Out, what contract would you give him? How long? How much coin?

Haven't followed his recovery but if he was healthy I'd go two years...maybe 12-13 million a year. Who is a QB like him away? SF?

[Kiwon]

Based on the short video of the workout at Duke, I'd say that he is healthy.

Personally, if I were the Irsay family, I would do my best to keep Manning at a cap-friendly price and draft Luck. I'd ask Manning directly to take less money now for guaranteed future employment with the team after he's retired. But given everything that has happened, my guess is that the dye has already been cast and Manning will be gone.

If I were Manning, I would leave money on the table to go to the team that has the most weapons and could be a Super Bowl contender the next two years. Winning probably means more to him than money at this stage of his HOF career. The other factor is that Manning obviously thrives when he is running the offense. I don't see him going to any team who will try to change that aspect of his game and not let him improvise.

[smuggler]

Why would Manning sign basically a 1 year deal for a team that's at least 2 years away from competing for a championship when he could go be a contender now for another team?

[woodbuck27]

Originally Published: March 6, 2012

Irsay better hope he's right on Manning

Colts' decision to cut QB makes sense now, but Peyton can still rewrite the ending

Comments1453
By Ashley Fox
ESPN.com
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Sources: Colts, Peyton To Part Ways

Sources: Colts and Peyton Manning to part ways, announcement expected Wednesday.

Sources: Colts, Peyton To Part Ways VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Sources: Colts, Peyton To Part Ways Sources: Colts, Peyton To Part Ways
  
  Sources: Colts and Peyton Manning to part ways, announcement expected Wednesday.
• Colts, Manning To Part Ways Colts, Manning To Part Ways
  
  Sources: Colts, Peyton Manning to part ways. Announcement expected tomorrow.
• Peyton Arrives In Indy Peyton Arrives In Indy
  
  Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay briefly speak after Manning arrives in Indy.
• Colts Fan React To Peyton Manning News Colts Fan React To Peyton Manning News
  
  Sources: Colts and Peyton Manning to part ways, announcement expected Wednesday.

Peyton Manning is getting cut. Let that sink in.

One of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, some would say the most technically sound man to ever play the position, is getting cut. Peyton Manning. The assassin. The leader. The face of the Indianapolis Colts' franchise. A man so ruthless with the football that Bill Belichick, of all people, famously feared him.
Cut. Gone. Done. Thanks for playing. See you in Canton.

[+] Enlarge

Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesPeyton Manning won 141 games and eight division titles as the Colts' quarterback.


It is like the Chicago Bulls waving goodbye to Michael Jordan, or the Edmonton Oilers saying farewell to Wayne Gretzky. There are no fairytales, not in professional sports, only reminders of how harsh a business it is.

If Peyton Manning can get cut, no one in the NFL is safe.

This has been coming for weeks, since the two sides fired up their spin machines shortly before the NFL arrived in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. It had to end like this because of how Manning's contract was structured. But the news is jarring nonetheless, and it left me with this: Jim Irsay better be right.

For Irsay's tweeting sake, Manning better be done. He better not be able to throw the ball more than 20 yards downfield. He better not be able to win or to scare defenses so badly that they never blitz for fear of leaving a receiver open for Manning to hit.

Manning's win total better be stuck on 141, his passing touchdowns on 399, his regular-season starts at 208, his passing yards at a ridiculous 54,828, his NFL MVP honors at four, his division titles won on eight, his Super Bowl appearances at two and his Super Bowl MVP awards at one.

Manning at 36 years old -- his birthday is March 24 -- better not be Manning at 33, still able to lead a team, to direct a franchise, to win 10 games, to win the AFC South, to reach the playoffs. He better not join Washington or Miami or Kansas City or Arizona or the New York Jets or whichever team opens its doors to him and, off his fierce competitiveness, turn them into a winner as he did in Indianapolis. He better not be out there pointing and waving and calling plays and making adjustments as he did so masterfully for 13 seasons in Indianapolis.

Irsay better be right, or he will go down as the man who cut Peyton Manning, potentially the G.O.A.T., before it was time. In a Midwestern city that loves its quarterback's loyalty, his charity, his family and his professionalism, Irsay better be right or he will never be forgiven. That beautiful stadium downtown very well might go dark.

Every franchise quarterback wants to be John Elway or Dan Marino, Troy Aikman or Terry Bradshaw.

Joe Montana didn't want to leave San Francisco. Brett Favre didn't want to leave Green Bay. They wanted to finish what they started, to keep playing, keep grinding, keep winning. The 49ers had Steve Young waiting. The Packers had Aaron Rodgers. Those were sound business decisions that worked out better for the teams than for the veterans. Montana finished up in Kansas City and Favre, it seems, is finally done after stops with the Jets and Minnesota.

The Colts have the No. 1 pick in the draft. They have a clear path to Andrew Luck, a quarterback most analysts have tabbed as the real thing, a can't-miss prospect, a legitimate longtime starter. Luck is coming from a pro-style offense and played the majority of his career for Jim Harbaugh.

Had the Colts not been in position to draft Luck, maybe they would've worked harder to restructure Manning's deal. Maybe they would've pushed to keep Manning, to let his career end the way it should -- in a Colts uniform, chasing a third Super Bowl appearance, trying to become the fourth quarterback to win a Super Bowl after the age of 35.

But Luck was there. The pick was there. It all set up for this ending.

With the information he had at the moment and given the deadline to make a decision, Irsay really had no choice but to cut Manning. It would have been fiscally irresponsible to pay a $28 million bonus to a soon-to-be 36-year-old coming off four neck surgeries who didn't play a snap last season when you have a potential starter coming in at a greatly reduced price. Irsay probably is right. It makes sense. But with so many variables, we can't be sure yet. We will have to wait and see.

Can Luck make the transition to the pros? Can he learn, and adapt, and do so quickly? Will he have enough help? Will the Colts be able to build around him as they did around Manning, and do so relatively quickly?

And what of Manning? Can he throw? Can he get his arm strength back? Which team will sign him, and will it give Manning the control he craves? Will there be the pieces in place to win in 2012?

Irsay's decision to cut Manning closes the book on Manning's Colts career, but the story is not over. There are chapters still to write.
Manning is fiercely competitive. He will want to make Irsay rue the day he cut him.

More than anything, Manning will want to prove Irsay wrong. Irsay better hope he was right.

Ashley Fox is an NFL columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @AshleyMFox.