Peyton Mile High Manning

Written by Jon Wekerle 


Peyton Mile High Manning

                Heard of him?  Peyton Manning is probably one of most sought after 35-year-old free agents to hit the market in NFL history.  Being a Rams and Broncos fan living in Denver, I think Peyton should sign with the Broncos for legitimate reasons and for the benefit of the Rams.

                Peyton is one of the best football players of all time.  He wants to win now.  I don’t think—the superior football mind that he is—that he needs to spend any time with a team that can’t win now.  The Colts were a playoff, division-winning caliber team when Peyton was healthy.  The Broncos won a bad AFC west last year that doesn’t look to be getting any better with a half of a quarterback in Tim Tebow.  I love Tim Tebow, but the Broncos need a winner now while Tim figures out how to play quarterback in the NFL.  I think Tebow would do well learning behind a healthy Peyton Manning for a couple of years.  In fact, who wouldn’t?  However, out of all the teams Manning is speculated to sign with, I think Tebow is the only quarterback on those teams with a legitimate chance of applying the skills he learns from Manning to his game.  Although Tebow is far from a polished quarterback, he has much more athletic ability, and thus, a higher chance to learn from Peyton, than Smith (49ers), Moore (Dolphins), Cassell (Chiefs), and Kolb (Cardinals).  Smith is obviously athletic, so I’ll explain why he won’t benefit from working with Peyton later in the article.

                Peyton is an offensive coordinator in a body of a hall of fame quarterback.  With Tebow, his ceiling is tremendous.  The guy has mad skills and is one of the hardest working players I have seen in a long time, and I think he can actually apply things from Peyton’s game to his game.  The Broncos were also a winning playoff team with a decent offensive line, good running game, and a bunch of young talent at the WR position that would be great for Peyton.  The Broncos defense is actually damn good when they play inspired football.  With Peyton at QB, you have to think they will play inspired.  The Broncos fit Peyton’s presumed criteria of staying in the AFC and playing for a contender.  The fans will also belove him and love him to none other playing in Denver.  Peyton has a massive ego, and don’t let his tearful good bye with Jim Ersay fool you.  This guy loves being on TV in commercials and hosting Saturday Night Live.  The guy loves to be in the public eye and being the center of attention.  He will get all of that in Denver.  He would also get a good head coach and John Elway.  Elway understands what Peyton is selling.  Elway runs a tight ship and he knows what Peyton can bring to an organization. He will give the keys to Peyton and let him do what he wants.  Not every organization can say that.  Lastly, Tebow mania can be stopped and accepted in Denver only if Peyton comes to Denver.  I can’t imagine anyone else coming in to replace Tebow who won’t be ostracized by Denver fans.  Half of America hates Tebow mania and this would solve the issue for America.  Peyton needs to pick Denver for America.  J

                There is a lot of speculation on the 49ers being a good fit for Peyton.  Alex Smith has the psyche of a 12-year-old boy that just hit puberty.  The guy needed Jim Harbaugh to talk him up so he didn’t self implode.  I think that bringing in Peyton to that franchise would doom Alex Smith for the rest of his career.  I also don’t want to see him play the Rams twice a year.  That’s a reason in itself for me not wanting him to go to the Niners. 

                There is also speculation that Arizona would be a good spot.  For the same reasons above, I don’t want Peyton to play the Rams twice a year.  I also think the Cardinals are much farther off from having a solid team and cannot win a super bowl next year even with a healthy Manning.  There are better options for him. 

                Washington is still being speculated by Adam Schefter for some odd reason to still be in the Peyton Manning sweepstakes.  Washington mortgaged their future to the Rams with this trade they just made to get in line to draft RG3.  For Dan Snyder’s sake, RG3 better have a much better career than Matt Flynn.  Do you think they would have to give up 3 first rounders for Matt Flynn?  Not even close.  They could have gotten him for one 1^st rounder and that’s it.  If Adam Schefter is correct on this Peyton speculation after this trade to the Rams, then Washington is a married man but also wants to see an ex-girlfriend at the same time.  Doesn’t make sense to me.

                Miami is wildly speculated as being the team for Peyton.  He has a home in Miami, so he wouldn’t be spending his time finding the closest grocery store.  The Dolphins on paper look like a great fit with a number 1 receiver, decent running game, great left tackle, and decent defense.  However, I don’t believe Peyton would be given the keys to the offense.  They have a 1^st year coach that is trying to find an identity for himself and his team.  Also, the Dolphins organization is a place that takes on ownership from Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Jimmy Buffet, Fergie, Venus, and Serena Williams.  Why would the Dolphins take on investors like this?  They do this to try to get fans to come to the games and not go to the beach.  Peyton, like I said, is an ego maniac.  In a city that has Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, and a new egocentric baseball owner that is turning over every rock and spending a tremendous amount on baseball players and marketing the team to fill his billion dollar stadium in a city filled with ego, this would not be a place for Peyton to receive all of the attention he craves.

                I am hopeful for Denver to get Peyton so I can watch him every Sunday from the comfort of my home, to end this Tebow madness, and to have Peyton stay as far away as absolutely possible from the NFC West.  Let’s do this Peyton!!!!

Why the Rams Shouldn't Waver

Written By:  Anthony Bafaro

Jim Thomas caused a bit of quaking in the Rams’ community Sunday when he wrote an article suggesting that the Rams’ trade leverage for the 2^nd overall pick may not be as strong as was once perceived.  I disagree. 

Any time you’re engaged in negotiations, you set your price and then vaunt the power of your position.  The goal is to convince your counterpart that they need the deal more than you do. The Rams got some early ammunition from the combine.  RG3 settled speculation about his height when he measured out at 6’2” and 3/8” (no quarterback under 6’2” has been drafted in the first round since Michael Vick in 2001).  He posted an impressive time of 4.41 seconds in the 40-yard dash and showed off his camera-savvy-smile and charisma in a series of interviews.  The Rams used that ammo to announce that they wanted a package similar to what the Chargers got for the rights to Eli Manning in 2004 (two 1^st round  picks, a 3^rd round pick, and a 5^th round pick).  

The question now is whether the Rams have the leverage to hold their ground.  The Rams would certainly prefer to deal with the Browns or ‘Skins, as either trade would keep them in the top-six, where most experts believe the list of elite prospects ends (Luck, Griffin, Kalil, Blackmon, Claiborne, Richardson).  A deal with the Browns would be especially alluring, because it would almost certainly leave them in position to nab Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon.  However, the Browns and ‘Skins are not the only potential trade partners.  Thomas suggests that the Dolphins are reluctant, feeling scorned after losing Jeff Fisher to the Rams, but if they’re unable to land Matt Flynn or Peyton Manning, they would certainly swallow their pride and make a play for a potential game-changer of Griffin’s caliber.  Additionally, the Bills, Chiefs, Seahawks, Cardinals, Broncos, and even Eagles are all potential trade partners.  Each team has varying degrees of question-marks at the quarterback position, and the Bills, Chiefs, and Eagles all used one of their limited number of interviews on Griffin (okay, so each team is allowed a plentiful sixty interviews, but why waste one on someone you’re not interested in).

The Browns are more likely to maintain a meager offer than the Redskins.  I’ve questioned from the beginning whether the Browns had any real interest at all in Griffin.  It would be very un-Holmgren-like to give up a significant package to move up two spots in the draft, and with the departure of Peyton Hillis, it seems likely that the Browns would look to draft Trent Richardson with the fourth pick.  If they were seeking a quarterback in the draft, it makes more sense for them to move down from four, or up from twenty-two (at a much cheaper rate) to select Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill, a player many experts believe could have success in a West Coast Offense.  Lastly, don’t underestimate the Browns’ stubborn willingness to stay mediocre by investing another year of development in 2010 third-round-pick Colt Mccoy and/or taking a cap-conservative chance on free-agents Jason Campbell or Kyle Orton.

The Redskins, on the other hand, have nowhere to run.  If Peyton Manning is healthy—and that’s a big “if”—he’ll be able to play anywhere he wants.  No one is going to convince me that he would choose the circus-act Redskins over the Dolphins, Jets, Broncos, Cardinals, etc., and beyond that, I don’t see Shanahan betting his head-coaching tenure on shoving a statue of a quarterback into his bootleg offense.  That leaves them with Rex Grossman, Matt Flynn (two career starts), or Kyle Orton--I don’t see Jason Campbell coming back.  Any of those decisions would result in the Washington fan-base setting fire to FedEx Field (assuming they beat owner Dan Snyder to the arsonist-punch).  Shanahan loves mobile quarterbacks and Dan Snyder loves star power.  RG3 is the only available option that gives them both.

All signs point to a trade with the Redskins.  It’s now a bluffing contest, each team pretending that they’d rather walk away than back down, and I believe the Rams are in a better position to walk away.  The Redskins are betting that the Rams won’t trade out of the “elite-six,” but if a better package surfaces from below--which could include players, not just picks--St. Louis could certainly use one of the many offensive lineman or defensive tackles projected to go in the mid to late first.  If the Redskins yield to a better offer, they’re left with nothing but the floor scraps of free agency. 

There’s no reason for the Rams to blink here, even through free agency.  There are not enough quality quarterbacks to fill all of the vacancies.  Whether it happens tomorrow or on draft-day, the Redskins will pay the asking price.  They have what we want, but we have what they need.