What say you? Smart move? Tebow likely headed to Miami or Jacksonville. Mannning deal likely 5 years and 95 million. That is a lot of money to spend on a guy that may not even be healthy. Manning takes one hit and he is done.
Not quite sure why he did not pick the Niners. That club is only a piece or two away from a title. Maybe Manning was not interested in facing the black and blue division, or the dirty south.
My guess is Manning didn't want to have a head coach who wouldn't give him total autonomy. John Fox will, Harbaugh, not so sure.
Five years and $95 mill sounds a little light. He was due to make something like $28 mill this season with Indy. Of course, that's why they dropped him, but I would think he could duplicate that. I wonder how much is guaranteed and how much is due over first three years?
It's a little "light" because of 4 operations in the past year or so. I doubt the money was even much of an issue to Manning, but probably to the agent instead.
Do you remember what happend when the Niners let Montana go after his injuries. He was about the same age when he went to the Chiefs. And he was never the same guy. I just don't believe you can take a guy out of one system that works and plug him into another and think all is well. At least not at 36 years of age and with injuries. Montana should have retired when the Niners released him. Instead he went out with a thud.
Who says Denver won't switch to the same system Manning used for his entire career? They would be foolish not to. They sure can't run what they ran last year with Tebow. Considering what they achieved last year behind Tebow and how emotionally invested the fans were, Elway is taking a huge gamble here. If they suck, and particularly if Manning plays like an old guy with a bad neck, the fans will be beyond apoplectic.
Well, I assumed they would change their system. The problem is, so did the Chiefs. They went with the west coast offense when Montana came in and nothing really happened. It turned out, the Chiefs were NOT the 49ers. Imagine that. And Denever is not what the Colts were at their peak. Denver is a horrible football team. There is no talent around Manning. So combine the old age, injuries, lack of talent and the different chemistry, it's a huge gamble. The only thing Peyton has going for him is how weak the division is.
I don't know, but I'm guessing it was a huge issue. Otherwise, he could have redone his deal and stayed in Indy. He didn't use the best strategy in his search either. Instead of picking a team, then negotiating his contract, as he apparently is doing, he should have had each team put in a proposal and play them off against each other. He could have still gone to Denver, even if they weren't the best offer but he would have had more leverage. Now he really doesn't have much in the way of leverage. The other teams have made deals and moved on.
I think Denver is maybe a little better than you are giving them credit for, but I do agree with you. Going with Manning is far more of a change than just bringing in a new QB. He is like bringing in a new offensive coordinator and going witha totally different offensive system. The best teams tend not to do that. A totally new system requires new personnel with different skills in mnay cases. I don't know how it works out for Denver, but they were a straight-ahead smashmouth team last year, with a Qb who could shake off blitzing LBs like they were waterboys. The Colts under Manning were the ultimate finesse team. Big change.