It’s official. After 14 seasons (including last year’s spent on the bench), four most-valuable player awards, scores of statistical accomplishments, a Super Bowl championship, eleven trips to the playoffs and appearances in half the commercials that air during NFL games, Peyton Manning has left the Indianapolis Colts.
Let the navel gazing begin.
With the Colts seemingly set to trade in their No. 1 draft pick after a Manning-less season in which they went 2-14 for Stanford phenom Andrew Luck, the veteran quarterback needs a new team. For weeks now, the Redskins have been near the center of the scuttlebutt.
After another blundering year at the quarterback position (most recently embodied by Rex Grossman and John Beck, Washington is ready for yet another offensive leader. The Redskins have burned through 13 different starting quarterbacks since Dan Snyder bought the franchise in 1999. Manning has been, at least until last year, a paragon of stability, making every start since his debut in September 1998 through January 2011.
Of course, Manning also about to turn 36 years old and is coming off three neck surgeries that caused him to miss the entirety of the 2011 season. On paper, he really does seem like the perfect Redskins acquisition.
D.C. sports pundits, anticipating today’s announcement for months, were ready with the instant analysis and pleas of “Please come to Washington, Peyton!”
The Washington Redskins are poised to make an aggressive effort in coming days to sign quarterback Peyton Manning, who became perhaps the highest-profile free agent in NFL history with the announcement of his release by the Indianapolis Colts Wednesday.
Hear that? The highest-profile free agent. Ever. Actually, Maske thinks the Redskins will need to make the hard sell to land Manning. For one thing, the receiver corps is pretty thin, whereas other potential suitors can offer the quarterback a partnership with an elite receiver, such as the Arizona Cardinals and Larry Fitzgerald, who even while sagged with the middling tandem of Kevin Kolb and John Skelton, still managed to haul in over 1,400 yards and eight touchdowns.
And then there’s ESPN’s Dan Graziano, who sees Manning as more of a “fallback option” should the Redskins not be able to finagle their way up the draft ladder and snag Baylor’s Robert Griffin III, who trails only Stanford’s Luck among anticipated rookies. The team should also be mindful of Manning’s health, Graziano writes:
Before the Redskins or anyone else can make an all-out pursuit of Manning, though, they have to be sure his arm is going to be healthy. If it is, there’s no reason to believe that he won’t be one of the very best quarterbacks in the entire league in 2012. But it’s likely going to take some time to determine whether he is, in fact, healthy.
Sports Illustrated runs down the pros and cons of each of Manning’s potential suitors. Besides the Redskins and the Cardinals, the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers are said to be in the hunt. In fact, Sports Illustrated has Washington ranked only second from the bottom of likeliness of actually signing Manning.
Why so pessimistic? Might have something to do with the coaching situation here:
The stubborn [Mike] Shanahan would have to open his playbook a lot more to let Manning do his thing … or Manning would have to be happy handing off 30 times a game. There are also the issues of a disappointing offensive line, overmatched defense and talent-starved RB/WR spots to address.
But what really might be curbing dreams of Peyton Manning in crimson burgundy and gold is the analysis of his longtime coach Tony Dungy, who told ESPN there’s no way that Manning would wind up in the NFC East for one very obvious reason: His brother, Eli.
While the prospect of two regular-season games between the Peyton Manning-led Redskins and Eli Manning-led New York Giants is tantalizing to some (not specifying whom), Dungy said he doesn’t think Peyton would want the manufactured family drama. “I don’t think he’d want to be in direct competition for a playoff spot against the Giants,” Dungy said.
And then there’s what armchair football analystMayor Vince Gray said last month: Why sign an injury-prone veteran in the twilight of his career when there’s younger talent available? “I think the Redskins really need a young quarterback they can build with in the future. Even if [Manning] comes in an plays for a year or two, where do we go from there?” Gray said on NewsChannel 8.
