I don't know... Slap the franchise tag on him and he's going to count $18.5 million on the salary cap. That's more than 20% of player salaries for the entire team! Geez...they could have signed Brunell, drafted a QB in the first round and plugged every hole on their entire team for what they're set to pay Manning. The team owner is talking about making him "the highest paid player in the history of professional football!" Again...huh?
He isn't worth it cause the guy who takes three seasons to make 18 million has two rings (Brady) and he has none. Manning will drive the likes of Edge and Harrison off that team if he doesn't take a pay cut. Then we'll see how great he is. I don't care if he throws for 5,000 yards because NFL teams don't need that big arm anymore. There are enough talanted recievers out there to make any QB good and like pack said they can fill there holes with the extra 10-12 million especially on defense. Just the last five QB's alone should be enhough reason to not give him that kind of money. Warner was nothing till he won a ring, dilfer was a bust, Brady a 6th round nobody, and Brad Johnson is a Journymen.
My point exactly, Pats37. What would improve the Colts more? Signing Peyton Manning to a long term deal? Or cutting him and hypothetically bringing in two or three guys like Mark Brunell, Terrell Owens and Keith Traylor (for example) for the same money? I think option two would make Indy the better team.
What would get you lynched in Indianapolis faster? Cutting Peyton Manning or setting the city on fire??? Its a ridiculous number, but hes not gonna play for that number, they will sign him to a long term deal, prolly in the next week or so and reduce his cap number so they can get him some help....they made the right move because without Peyton, thats not even a playoff team, its a 4-12 ballclub without him, so if you let him walk, its total rebuild time again....The Colts should petition the league for a special payment plan for Peyton anyway, they should be able to pay him a moderate salary as a player and then an addition Million as thier offensive coordinator, which shouldnt count against the cap
You're right as usual, Beef. I know that you almost HAVE to re-sign Manning and Indy would self destruct if they cut him, but seriously...how important is any one guy to a team of 93 guys? My guess is, they'll give him a ten year contract with a $30 million bonus they can prorate over 10 years and the total value will put McNabb's $100 million deal to shame. I'm guessing the only real sticking point right now is how to make the deal as "cap friendly" as possible.
Check this out. How funny would it be, if some team (i.e. Baltimore) that has a shitload of cap-space would sign Manning while he's a franchise player. The contract could be made so that there would be no way for Indy to match. I think that would be a great move for Baltimore, IMO they are a Payton Manning away from being a great team. This just shows how important it is to plan years in advance. Eagles signed McNabb to a long-term contract 3-years before the end of his first contract. It seemed like a lot of money then, after Manning signs his contract, it will seem like we got McNabb at a bargain rate. Indy is to blame that it even got to this point, shame on them.
That all sounds great, but your forgetting one thing...Manning wants to be a Colt(although his hero was Johnny U and he played in Baltimore, for the Colts though).....20 teams will contact Manning's agent if hes still a free agent on March 3rd, atleast to gauge his interest in playing elsewhere, at which time his agent will prolly stir the pot a little and rumors may fly, but no one will do the Colts work for them and sign him to an offer sheet unless they think they Colts cant match it, because if they can they will and then you spent your time and money negotiating for Indy.....I would love to see him in Miami, and Im willing to part ways with 2 1sts to make that happen(No 20 overall this year and #32 next), but its not gonna happen unless Peyton is hell bent on being a Dolphin(not likely the case)
its a disgrace that hes still on his rookie contract, or the FO has let him get to this point. but the question is who would you replace him with? hes the best pure qb in the league, and id take him over any other player at any other position if i had to. manning> vick, mcnabb, mcnair,LT, moss, etc. best player no1 is as valuable, and not to mention that he is a perfect fit for that offense. perfect
There's on thing you are forgetting TB, money talks. If Indy is not capable of giving him the money he wants, he will leave. I remember last year Hugh Douglas said how much he wanted to be an Eagles, and that the only teams he would go to would be Super Bowl contender. Then he went to Jacksonville. Thing about Manning is that only few teams could afford to do this. Dolphins is not one of them though, sorry :-(
Peyton Manning isnt a money guy, hes already gotten plenty of it and he can have as much endoresment income as he desires, what he wants is to win Championships, thats his number 1 goal....his agent is a money guy though and is somewhat in control of that aspect, but Peyton will go where he wants to go and there is not a lot they can do to stop it, if he wants to play in Indy, he will, and if he doesnt, he wont....money doesnt talk for everyone, because theres too much that money cant buy, and Peyton Manning has an excellent sence of where he fits into the leagues history and that will be a big part of his decision making process....if he wanted too, he could agree to the 1 year tender and get a 20% raise every year, which would put his salary over the next 4 years at $18.5mil, $22.2mil, $26.64mil, and 31.97mil....thats 4 years/$99 mil, without signing a contract!!! the 5th year would be $38.36 mil and the 6th would be at $46.04 mil....thats a 6 year $183 mil deal by itself, thats an annual avg of over $30mil a year....if he wants to be greedy, of course, in the process he cripples the Colts ability to compete and they would eventually have to let him walk, so if he wants out, he can get out, hes 27 right now and he could get himself free before he was 30 if thats his desire....the example you used comparing Manning and Douglas is not a good one, Manning is the leagues consumate team player and Douglas has proven to be a selfish loaf many times over, those 2 guys dont belong on the same field together, much less the same league
you cant not do it to manning, you have to, there isnt another QB like manning, its going to be worth cutting all of those players for a QB like manning
Manning got his $100,000,000 long term deal... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/foot...ex.html?cnn=yes
he gets 35 million this year and the team only has 8 million count against the cap. If he improves TD/INT ratio like he did last year he could blow league away
No player is worth $100 million. The insanity continues. With that being said, I do think Indy did a good job structuring his contract. Knocking off 10 Million this year against the cap will help them balance their 'checkbook'.