Principal Clarinet: Looks like the Peyton/Indy divorce papers have been filed. Now just waiting for Irsay's signature.

It wasn't obvious when the Polians were fired?

A part of me reeeeeally hopes that Luck sucks.

It's been obvious since about Week 5 when it became clear how bad the Colts were really going to be this year. You have to get out ahead of the curve if you want to continue to be successful in the NFL.

Manning has a SB ring, a ton of money, a city that reveres him as a god, and a deadlocked future as a fun TV commentator if he wants it. Coming back includes some SERIOUS risk. Why the hell would he WANT to?

Manning will be a free agent, he's not going to retire. The bidding will be spectacular, and I suspect he'll become a Redskin

hmm, keep 36 year old with debilitating neck injury and pay him 28 million bonus, or draft the top qb prospect of the last 10 years. tough choice

Brother_Mouzone: hmm, keep 36 year old with debilitating neck injury and pay him 28 million bonus, or draft the top qb prospect of the last 10 years. tough choice

35.4 million, acutally. The bonus is $28 million, but there's also a $7.4 million salary unless you cut him before the season starts.

Zombie Hitler: A part of me reeeeeally hopes that Luck sucks.

I'm sure a part of, or maybe all of Peyton hopes he sucks too

I stand by my position that they need to restructure Peyton's contract, retain him for a few years to train Luke, and then make him a part of the coaching staff. That is the way to maximize resources in Indy.

/preserves fan base
//preserves Peyton
///Gives Luck the greatest chance for success
////maximizes long term success of the organization

Orgasmatron138: Manning has a SB ring, a ton of money, a city that reveres him as a god, and a deadlocked future as a fun TV commentator if he wants it. Coming back includes some SERIOUS risk. Why the hell would he WANT to?

Dear God...for the one-millionth time....

His injury does NOT increase his risk for long-term injury, potential paralysis, etc. anymore than he is at risk playing QB in the NFL. There are multiple lineman and Linebackers in the NFL playing right now who have had the same injury and surgery and they play a much more head and neck violent position.

His injury and rehab is all about nerve regeneration and the lack of strength he doesn't have with his grip and his tricep.

Irsay has point blank come out and said, if he can clear medical he will not cut him. If he can't he will or attempt to negotiate his contract.

Keep in mind, if he can't clear medical for Indy, then it means he can't clear medical for any other team which technically means he won't get a new job (as a FA) until his nerves come back...if they ever will.

Lost Thought 00: Manning will be a free agent, he's not going to retire. The bidding will be spectacular, and I suspect he'll become a Redskin Titan

Probably not going to happen, but it would bring teh lulz.

Come on Bud, you are old and eccentric enough to bring him back to TN!

And at qb for the new York jets...

WhyKnot: I stand by my position that they need to restructure Peyton's contract, retain him for a few years to train Luke, and then make him a part of the coaching staff. That is the way to maximize resources in Indy.

/preserves fan base
//preserves Peyton
///Gives Luck the greatest chance for success
////maximizes long term success of the organization

Are the Colts getting Skywalker? That's Awesome!

please please please cut him!

AZ needs a real QB. We'll even trade you Kolb for him, who is reportedly worth $65MIL.

Peyton is a future HOFer, deserves it, and is the smartest QB ever. Almost too smart. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the dual role of QB and Offensive Coordinator next year somewhere.

The biggest challenge will be finding him a a place where he won't overtake the team.

He's done in Indy, but a great place for him to be next year would be some place like Denver, or some other place that has a promising QB within the next year or two and could use some tutelage.

killdawabbitt: please please please cut him!

AZ needs a real QB. We'll even trade you Kolb for him, who is reportedly worth $65MIL.

As crazy as it sounds, I think you guys would win more games with Skelton than with PeyPey.

LessO2: He's done in Indy, but a great place for him to be next year would be some place like Denver, or some other place that has a promising QB within the next year or two and could use some tutelage.

Peyton has no interest in "teaching" his competition, never has, never will.
That's the job of the coaches not him.

The '49s or some other team that feels they are close and want to try a minnisota:favre would be the plausible landing place for a post-indy Peyton

Wherever he goes though, he will go there to play not to teach.

Dinobot: I_C_Weener: Orgasmatron138: Manning has a SB ring, a ton of money, a city that reveres him as a god, and a deadlocked future as a fun TV commentator if he wants it. Coming back includes some SERIOUS risk. Why the hell would he WANT to?

Because Eli, the lesser Manning, has already tied him in Superbowl appearances and might win another.

And Eli got his SB ring before Peyton.

I really hope Eli wins just so he can rub it in the face of Peyton.

LOL WUT?

Principal Clarinet: davidphogan: Principal Clarinet: Looks like the Peyton/Indy divorce papers have been filed. Now just waiting for Irsay's signature.

It wasn't obvious when the Polians were fired?

Yeah...that was the beginning of the end, but along with a new coach with a defensive philosophy and Peyton's recent outspoken remarks, it's finally the end.

Yep. They're getting rid of Payton because he has loose lips. It's not because of the zipper in his neck.

ultimateklay: Dinobot: I_C_Weener: Orgasmatron138: Manning has a SB ring, a ton of money, a city that reveres him as a god, and a deadlocked future as a fun TV commentator if he wants it. Coming back includes some SERIOUS risk. Why the hell would he WANT to?

Because Eli, the lesser Manning, has already tied him in Superbowl appearances and might win another.

And Eli got his SB ring before Peyton.

I really hope Eli wins just so he can rub it in the face of Peyton.

LOL WUT?

age wise?

merkey88: As crazy as it sounds, I think you guys would win more games with Skelton than with PeyPey.

It's not crazy because of Skelton's magical powers. Unfortunately, he's kinda like the guy from "Greatest American Hero" and he's lost the instruction manual to his magical power suit. It only works when he's totally desperate at the end of the game.

I'd take my chances with Peyton.

Orgasmatron138: Manning has a SB ring, a ton of money, a city that reveres him as a god, and a deadlocked future as a fun TV commentator if he wants it. Coming back includes some SERIOUS risk. Why the hell would he WANT to?

To quote the eloquent John Rambo...."This is who we are. This is what we do."

You can't just turn of that competitive drive you've had for the last 30 years of your life.

Given his injury, why Peyton would still want to play football is a bit beyond me. Ending up in wheel chair having someone spoon feed you in the desparate hopes of another SB ring is just dumb.

Might be time to retire and start coaching, assuming he realizes that most players will not be at his level of talent.

beta_plus: Given his injury, why Peyton would still want to play football is a bit beyond me. Ending up in wheel chair having someone spoon feed you in the desparate hopes of another SB ring is just dumb.

Might be time to retire and start coaching, assuming he realizes that most players will not be at his level of talent.

The surgery was more about nerve regeneration than any kind of long term neck injury. Manning's biggest risk long term from the fusion is possible arthritis down the road. The reason he didn't come back was because his arm strength wasn't up to snuff. Kelvin Hayden had the exact same surgery as manning did and played most of the season for the Falcons.

Peyton does look done and Luck does seem to have a good head on his shoulders (no puns). However, I would love to see Luck be terrible and Peyton hook up with a team that is just missing a QB (and win 1 SB, get to 1 more conference title game). Then if the Colts can struggle for years upcoming we can finally have a real good curse to talk about.

Been saying it for a while but I think he'll end up in Arizona.

I don't want to see Peyton Manning throw one single pass as anything but a Colt, so I really hope they can work this out or he just retires. If Jim Irsay doesn't handle this delicate situation in a way that treats Manning with the respect he deserves, he will have a lot of angry fans in Indianapolis.

Shoot. I was sort of hoping they'd keep Peyton on so he could mentor Luck, the way Joe Montana did with Steve Young. Meaning, compete like absolute hell to keep him off the field as long as he could until he becomes even more powerful than you could possibly realize.

Passive Aggressive Larry: I don't want to see Peyton Manning throw one single pass as anything but a Colt, so I really hope they can work this out or he just retires. If Jim Irsay doesn't handle this delicate situation in a way that treats Manning with the respect he deserves, he will have a lot of angry fans in Indianapolis.

He will have a lot of angry people period. There are plenty of people who won't be Colts fans once they stop winning like they have been. I was a Colts fan before the Manning era, but I really don't like the way Irsay has been handling this lately. If not for Manning, this team might be in LA by now. They certainly wouldn't have a sweet new stadium

Manning in Arizona constitutes cheating according to the NFC West Charity Wager bylaws that I just made up.

ಠ_ಠ

GimpyNip: I don't care about the risks. My team hasn't won a Super Bowl in 42 years. Either sign Manning and move Sanchez or sign Jason Campbell and make Mark play for his job. This I command!

Manning won't go to NYJ. Not with Rex Ryan there.

I can't believe that the thought of just kicking Manning to the curb w/o seeing if he can still play is even an option. Isn't this the guy who single-handedly put your organization back on the map, made you perennial contenders, won you a SB? Where's the respect? And I don't wanna hear about the $28 mil they don't want to pay him. The way I see it, he earned every bit of that money w/o playing a single down this year, and exposing that garbage team for what they were all along--a one-man team.

The Peyton Saga is kind of distracting from the fact that the Colts have a bunch of other issues that were buried while he was playing but were glaring last season. They have some tough decisions to make (sorry if I get some of the players status wrong, I'm doing this off the top of my head):

Free agents:
Dallas Clark: Give him a pat on the back, a gold watch and send him on his way
Robert Mathis: Pay him whatever he wants
Reggie Wayne: Try to trade him for draft picks or cut him, make Garcon the #1
Joseph Addai: See: Dallas Clark

Chuck Pagano has said he likes a big, strong defensive scheme, where as the Colts have played with a quickness-and-speed philosophy for years. The back four are a mess, the linebackers are OK, Angerer really stepped up last year. Major changes, I foresee them.

The special teams have always been underfunded and it's killed the Colts at times. Vinatieri and McAfee are fine, it's the kickoff/punt returners and the coverage teams that have sucked.

Donald Brown showed flashes of being a solid #1 back, wouldn't hurt to get some help in this area.

pjlawrence81: I can't believe that the thought of just kicking Manning to the curb w/o seeing if he can still play is even an option. Isn't this the guy who single-handedly put your organization back on the map, made you perennial contenders, won you a SB? Where's the respect? And I don't wanna hear about the $28 mil they don't want to pay him. The way I see it, he earned every bit of that money w/o playing a single down this year, and exposing that garbage team for what they were all along--a one-man team.

Yeah, Archie, we know your opinion already.

Henry Holland: The Peyton Saga is kind of distracting from the fact that the Colts have a bunch of other issues that were buried while he was playing but were glaring last season. They have some tough decisions to make (sorry if I get some of the players status wrong, I'm doing this off the top of my head):

Free agents:
Dallas Clark: Give him a pat on the back, a gold watch and send him on his way
Robert Mathis: Pay him whatever he wants
Reggie Wayne: Try to trade him for draft picks or cut him, make Garcon the #1
Joseph Addai: See: Dallas Clark

Chuck Pagano has said he likes a big, strong defensive scheme, where as the Colts have played with a quickness-and-speed philosophy for years. The back four are a mess, the linebackers are OK, Angerer really stepped up last year. Major changes, I foresee them.

The special teams have always been underfunded and it's killed the Colts at times. Vinatieri and McAfee are fine, it's the kickoff/punt returners and the coverage teams that have sucked.

Donald Brown showed flashes of being a solid #1 back, wouldn't hurt to get some help in this area.

Clark and Addai are under contract for awhile. We can and probably will cut them though. I wouldn't be surprised to see Wayne take a smaller contract to stay here though. Mathis does need to be resigned, especially if we retain our current defense. Our RBs are fine for right now. Using a high draft pick on one isn't a good idea. With the exception of AP and CJ (low first round), none of the most successful backs in the NFL were first rounders. After QB, assuming Manning leaves, our secondary needs the most help

The Smails Kid: pjlawrence81: I can't believe that the thought of just kicking Manning to the curb w/o seeing if he can still play is even an option. Isn't this the guy who single-handedly put your organization back on the map, made you perennial contenders, won you a SB? Where's the respect? And I don't wanna hear about the $28 mil they don't want to pay him. The way I see it, he earned every bit of that money w/o playing a single down this year, and exposing that garbage team for what they were all along--a one-man team.

Yeah, Archie, we know your opinion already.

Most Colts fan agree with him. This isn't being handled very well.

pjlawrence81: And I don't wanna hear about the $28 mil they don't want to pay him. The way I see it, he earned every bit of that money w/o playing a single down this year

Nobody is worth 28 million (plus the money from last year he got for doing nothing).

mjbok: pjlawrence81: And I don't wanna hear about the $28 mil they don't want to pay him. The way I see it, he earned every bit of that money w/o playing a single down this year

Nobody is worth 28 million (plus the money from last year he got for doing nothing).

You wouldn't pay Brady, Rodgers, or Brees 28mil?

mjbok: pjlawrence81: And I don't wanna hear about the $28 mil they don't want to pay him. The way I see it, he earned every bit of that money w/o playing a single down this year

Nobody is worth 28 million (plus the money from last year he got for doing nothing).

Manning should be worth more than Irsay, that's for damn sure. Nobody pays billions in TV deal money to watch Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, et al. Nobody's buying the owners' jerseys.

grinding_journalist: You wouldn't pay Brady, Rodgers, or Brees 28mil?

The end parenthesis should have been in a different location to emphasize the "doing nothing" part, but 28 million is close to beyond tolerance for even the best QB's.