The Indianapolis Colts have an important decision to make in a couple of months.
The Colts have the top pick in the 2012 Draft in April, and we all know that they will take Andrew Luck with their pick (you’d at least think so, right?). Franchise QB Peyton Manning also has a $28 million dollar bonus that is due in March.
I think the decision is pretty clear on this one: the Colts need to trade Manning while they can.
Let’s face it folks, the Colts have seen what life is like without Manning. They stink without him, plain and simple. The same team that went 10-6 last season finished at 2-14 this season.
That poor record means that the Colts need to no delay the inevitable and rebuild NOW. And what better way to rebuild than to trade Peyton and garner some draft picks. An extra #1 and #2 would go a long way in landing the Colts some much-needed talent.
Look, life in Indy was not pretty this season. Hell the Colts brass fired both Bill and Chris Polian, the vice-president and the general manager respectively.
Therefore, the Colts need to not pussy-foot around and deal Manning while they can still get the best deal for him.
Categories: NFL, sports story
Agreed. If anyone will take him, the Colts should trade him.
Trading him makes absolutely no sense. They have a $28mil signing bonus due in March. If they sign and trade him, they’ll have wasted $28million and have a good chunk of that against their salary cap. Either they pay the cash and keep or him, or don’t and he becomes a free agent.
He’s probably gone, but they won’t get anything for him.
So, let’s see…
You would rather let him walk for nothing rather than try and get something for him – salary considerations be damned. There are many QB-hungry teams in the league who would love to have Peyton (Redskins, Dolphins, Browns top name a few) and the Colts know it. Will the Colts have to burn the #28 mil – of course! Hang onto him up to the 2012 NFL draft, and for teams who want them, they will get him for the appropriate price.
If Peyton’s roster bonus is not paid or if his contract is not reworked, then EVERYONE would know that Peyton will not be a Colt much longer and would therefore offer little compensation. If Peyton is still on the roster, then the assumption is the Colts may hang onto him. That would mean the asking price would be much higher. Sometimes you have to lose a battle if you want to win the war.
Doing business in any walk of life is all about leverage. It’s all about business, my friend.
Oh, and by the way, nice set of stones you got there (“anemailaddress@gmail.com”)…
The Colts are certainly in the driver seat with Peyton. The decision to keep, release, trade will certainly tell everyone if he can still play or not.
If Peyton is healthy you keep him. He is arguably the best QB in the league when healthy, and at worst one of the top 3. You don’t give that away and if he can play they will not trade him.
If they do, they are saying that they believe that Andrew Luck is their next Peyton. If they trade Peyton and Luck fails the franchise will struggle!
I agree with much of what you said.
It’s the ultimate Catch-22: you hang onto Peyton and risk keeping him around too long or trade Peyton while Luck may not be the real thing.
I look at it this way: the Colts have already seen life without Peyton. Why risk going down that road again when you have a shot at a “can’t-miss” prospect in Luck? Then again, you cannot be so sure – Ryan Leaf proved that…
Peyton has all the leverage. They will not simply pay the bonus to keep him for the trade. The only way this occurs is if he accepts a lesser (structure unknown) contract and I have no doubt they would tell him up front that it is for the purpose of trading him.
I would agree with you, except that Indy owner Jim Irsay is close to Peyton, and has said on more than one occasion that he is willing to pay the bonus to keep Peyton – even if they pick Andrew Luck. Whether this is a smoke screen or not, Irsay is trying to hold some leverage here. Kinda like the adage around draft time : “management is lying to you when their lips are moving”.
The only way that shifts is if Peyton comes out and demands a trade. Stay tuned…
Why A Manning Trade Isn’t Realistic:
1) The fact that Manning may never play again is very real. Even if he does play, nobody wants to bet big cash on a quarterback over 35 years old and with a neck held together with scotch tape and happy thoughts.
2) The Colts only owe him 4 million dollars if they release him after this season. Burning a $28 million cap hit in a league with a $120 million cap is suicide.
3) Re-read number #2, then consider what it will cost to fill all the holes the Colts have.
4) Even if you the Colts and Manning re-work the deal, the minute you do that, the whole league knows you are trying to move him. Success rarely comes from dealing from a position of weakness.
5) Even if the Colts manage to keep him, and he can still play at an acceptable level, and even if they manage to work out a deal so that salary cap hit doesn’t cripple them, how long do you think the perennially immobile Manning stays off injured reserve? Remember, he has a neck made of glass and he’s behind an-already crappy offensive line that may very well be without Jeff Saturday and Ryan Diem, who are free-agents. The Colts could concievably be spending over $30 million on old, injured quarterbacks in 2012 because don’t forget, they still owe money to Kerry Collins since they signed him to a two-year deal.
Stop and think what that means…
Bill Polian went on record this week saying he lost his job with the Colts because “he didn’t have a good enough back up” for Manning. Does that mean Collins, Painter and Orlovsky are all gone? Does that mean even if they bring back Manning, the Colts will change the offense to something a back-up would have a chance of succeeding with? Or does that mean they are going to spend even more money on a Kyle Orton-type?
Look at all the issues that need to be dealt with versus the alternative (release Manning, start over), which has a better long-range upside anyway.
All the way around, the Colts were too dependent on one dude – which is why Indy needs to start the hell over.
Nice points J-Dub…