Peyton Manning

Is it even conceivable that the Colts don't re-sign Manning and explore a trade??

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=fanball-coltsfranchisetagloo&prov=fanball&type=lgns

They have 4m under the cap and will lose some guys unless they get very creative with the salary cap. Honestly, can they afford Manning and still hope to keep their salary cap in check??

 

They can afford to sign him to a contract. With the franchise tag on QBs, they can't afford to place the tag and continue to have the players they do, no. A long term deal would afford cap relief, but they still have 15 lb of Manning to fit in a 5 lb bag, and there's no room for anyone else.

 

I heard something about Parcells was beating down his door.

 

Thoughts....

I find this the most interesting decision of Free Agency. The franchise tag on Manning is absurd, it's like $18million. Hell, if I were the Colts and tagged him, I'd PRAY for the 2 first rounders.

Is Manning worth it? The last several superbowl QB's were extremely CHEAP compared to what manning will get:

Delhomme
Brady
Johnson
Gannon (he got bank his SB year)
Warner (alot of good that did them)
Brady
Dilfer
Collins
Warner
McNair
Elway
Chandler
Elway
Favre

The Colts will break themselves if they keep Manning - and that might be the best route to a Championship. But it might not be. Certainly a trade would enable them sufficient picks to build a franchise without Manning. Either way, I think that an argument for trading him is extremely valid - and I think he's worth 2 first rounders if his contract would be manageable to the team that gets him.

Hell, Delhomme has a better playoff record than Manning. Doesn't make him a better qb, but it arguably makes him a better investment.

Anywho. That's what I think.

 

Seems that today's NFL is about balance instead of super star talent at the big offensive positions. Lower or average priced offensive players to go with better (higher paid) defenses looks like the ticket. Your offense $$ should be close to your defensive $$. Distribution of the cap $$ throughout the team is more important.

Doesn't appear that you'll win consistently or stay within cap constrants with 3 (or more) bigtime super star offensive skill players (a la Manning, Edge, Harrison). Thats too much $$ to have to dish out to pay them league averages.

If this is true, we can't afford both Moose and Steve making huge $$. I'll get bashed for saying this but realistically IMO, we just can't keep both at Moose's current deal.

 

Polian has a way of f-ing teams up then bailing out right before the shit hits the fan.

 

The owner has said already that Manning will retire a Colt and his new contract will make the highest paid QB ever

 

The only problem with that idea is that we have cap room, we have the ability to keep the core players under that cap room, and Muhammad's deal lasts exactly one more year. Guess that's three problems.

 

Ok, so basically we could keep Moose 1 more year, sign Smith and draft a WR to get ready behind Moose.

Or, re-sign Moose to a longer deal (for much less per year) and spread out some of his salary throughout the extension. I realize thats simplifing something much more complex than that - but that could be the approach.

Either way, thats not keeping Moose at his current deal. We gotta get his avg salary down or cut his ass loose in the next 2 yrs.

 

No doubt, we are in a completely different situation.