End of an era

We knew this was coming, but we refused to believe it. Thinking about seeing Manning in anything other than a Colts jersey seems wrong. Up until a few weeks ago, Irsay and Manning were taking shots at each other in public. Things seemed bad, and destined to end. Manning didn’t want to leave Indianapollis, Irsay didn’t want him to leave, but knew that they needed to move forward. Manning had made it clear that a quarterback taken first in the draft had to play, and shouldn’t sit on the bench. That left two options. Option 1, draft Luck and let Manning go. Option 2, keep Manning and don’t draft a quarterback. In the end, Indy had to move on and both Manning and Irsay knew this. This is why they attacked each other in public. Not because they hated each other, but because they knew they were going to have to let go. In their press conference today, there was not a dry eye in the room. Manning and Irsay both struggled to keep their emotions in check. This was never an easy decision. A 22 year old rookie quarterback coming to play for the youngest owner at 37, their paths were connected. Manning made this franchise, it is his franchise.

There was a rare sequence of events that had to happen for the Colts and Manning to be in this situation. Considering Manning hadn’t missed a game in his career before this, for him to get injured and be out a full season was very rare. From here, the Colts had to finish with the worst record in the NFL. They were one win away from finishing with the 2^nd pick, and were lucky they owned all “tiebreakers” with the Rams. And the most interesting event had to happen the year before. Andrew Luck had to decide to stay at Stanford another year. Somehow, I don’t see anything like this happening again. In the end, the Colts couldn’t afford to give Manning $28 million and keep Andrew Luck under the salary cap. They have too many holes in their team and they need to start addressing them. While many Colts fans may not be happy with the decision to let Manning go but it is the right decision, even though they may struggle for a few years.

Where will Peyton go now? The teams being thrown around are the Redskins, the Jets, the Dolphins and the Broncos. He could also pull a Favre and go to someone like the Titans, who are the Colts divison rivals. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go anywhere apart from the Patriots, Giants, Saints and Pacers, who already have star quarterbacks. Manning has to go somewhere that already has everything except a quarterback. At his age he can’t wait for a team to build around him. The Titans and Dolphins make the most sense. They have a good defense already in place, along with weapons on offense. Somehow, I don’t see Manning going to a division rival like Favre did, and so Miami makes the most sense. With Brandon Marshall, Devone Bess, Reggie Bush, an up and coming Daniel Thomas, and a solid defense, Manning could put this team over the top. Washington has Gaffney, Fred Davis, Santana Moss and Roy Helu, but I don’t feel they have the same potential as the Dolphins, largely due to their subpar defense. Regardless, where ever Manning ends up, he will make a difference. Colts fan should and will remember him for everything he did for them, but it is time to move on.14 years, 1 super bowl win, 4 MVP’s and 200 consecutive starts, the Manning era in Indianapolis is over.