Its not to often a team faces a decision to cut loose its premier quarterback, one who has changed the face of there organization from the moment he was drafted. Yet they face a similar situation as they did back in 1998, except they have a top level quarterback, and an opportunity to remold their organization.
Peyton Manning has been the top signal caller in the NFL for the last 10 years, and created one of the most hyped rivalry with counter part Tom Brady of the Patriots. When most games lead up to smack talking and disrespect, the games between these two have none of that. Each player, each team knows it will be a physical, offensive battle and will usually come down to the last team with the ball. It was interesting that both players have had an significant injury in there careers, when they were injury prone. Some will argue that Manning has had the statistics, as Brady has had the rings. If you ask me both players have been successful in their designated roles with there organization.
But Manning has had to deal with a injury that happened to totally control not only his football career, but his life. A injury believe to develop from several hits he has taken over the years, Manning finally needed surgery to fix a potential life threatening problem. So his decision to have surgery was simple, with the hope to miss maybe part of the season and return. The general public didn't realize how many surgeries were necessary to correct the issues in his neck/spine. It seemed that ever week some new development occurred about Peyton, which eventually led to the leak of the multiple surgeries that were performed. It was finally found that a total of 4 operations were done to correct Manning's neck. This in turn led to the Colts posting a very disappointing season, andnow sit at the 1st selection in the draft. So it's a no doubter that the Colts will select the highest ranked QB since, well Manning. I'm not saying that this is a dumb move, because I wouldn't role the dice and bank on Peyton being 100 percent ever again. To top that off he is due 28 million dollars and the Colts decided that it isn't worth the risk.
So the next question to be answered, which everyone wonders is where will Peyton Manning end up. I think that given his situation with his health, and the limit left on his career he wants to go to a place that has pieces in place to win. I also believe he wants to be in a place with a strong front office, so I look at the Dolphins. He would have Brandon Marshall as his big play receiver, and Davon Bess As his sneaky go to guy. The phins need a leader at the helm, and Manning knows what he is doing. It comes down to if the Dolphins are willing to role the dice with his age and health. Matt Flynn is the highest sought QB being that he has youth and talent. It looks like the Redskins will make the move to get RG3, and that leaves Tannehill a solid 2nd round pick for a QB needy team. It should be interesting to see where Manning goes, and how the FA period develops, with so many big name players available. It seems this may be one of the most active FA and draft years in NFL history.
