Colts release Peyton Manning...

[emelius]

News conference scheduled for tomorrow...

[tkam]

Yep - off to the Cardinals or Dolphins he goes.

[The Monkey]

I'd love LOVE for the Jets to get him.

[emelius]

him, Reggie Wayne & Pierre Garçon all going to the redskins would've been amusing...he could go to the 49ers...anyone but the jets...

[raffy]

Miami might be a nice destination for him. Manning to Marshall connection???

I know I'm in the minority in saying this but I hate the fact that football contracts allow teams to pretty much release players for any reason whether it be health, conduct or worst, performance related (and just owing the "guaranteed money" for doing this). This is why I have ZERO problems with holdouts - If a team can cut you for any reason, let's say for health (in Manning's case) or underperfoming, why should we knock players who hold out because they feel underpaid or they feel that they're putting too much of their health on the line for too little money?

[The Monkey]

^ I agree 100%. I can't understand the people who side with the owners in professional sports, and football is the worst. Players are certainly greedy; the owners redefine the word.

[recstar24]

I concur with above. Also makes players appreciate their guaranteed contracts in baseball and basketball.

[cobra_kai]

I honestly thought I would never see the day the colts release Peyton. He basically is the colts - does anyone really think Luck/RG3 will be able to replace a once in a generation talent like him? Maybe I will be proven wrong, but I expect to see the Colts as bottom feeders for many years...

If he gets healthy and back close to his top form congrats to whatever team picks him up

[morphsci]

I think I may have found a new team to take the place as my most hated sports team.

[ecclesand]

I'm hoping the Broncos consider him but they've got too much money tied up in Tebow and traded away most of their decent wide receivers in favor of Tebow's option style offense. In any case, cutting Manning was a pretty heartless thing to do in my opinion. He was the heart and soul of that team.

[deepak]

Smart move by the Colts. He suffered a debilitating injury, I am highly skeptical he will ever perform like his old self. Bring him on in to the AFC East

Miami might be a nice destination for him. Manning to Marshall connection???

I know I'm in the minority in saying this but I hate the fact that football contracts allow teams to pretty much release players for any reason whether it be health, conduct or worst, performance related (and just owing the "guaranteed money" for doing this). This is why I have ZERO problems with holdouts - If a team can cut you for any reason, let's say for health (in Manning's case) or underperfoming, why should we knock players who hold out because they feel underpaid or they feel that they're putting too much of their health on the line for too little money?

Or playing against teams that have bounty reward systems...

[Salt Peanuts]

Smart move by the Colts. He suffered a debilitating injury, I am highly skeptical he will ever perform like his old self. Bring him on in to the AFC East

This. It made no sense for Colts to pay the $28M roster bonus with no certainty of Manning ever playing again, let alone at his previous level, not to mention the cap space keeping him would have cost.

As to why other major league sports don't outright cut/release players is due to the difference in contracts - MLB and NBA contracts are guaranteed (with few exceptions) while NFL contracts are not (aside from signing bonus and whatnot). Besides a roster space consideration, why would any MLB or NBA team cut/release a player when you have to keep on paying him anyways?

Edited March 7, 2012 by Salt Peanuts

[skullguise]

Agreed with the business reasons for cutting him, but morally of course...well, WTF do morals have to do with football teams....?

I heard on sports talk radio that there was a video "leaked" of him throwing 4 different style passes: left to right, long ball, etc. Supposedly secret cell phone video, but well edited to show just those 4 good looking passes I think Deepak is right that he really is damaged goods, though, and will never fully regain best form.

Still, he is a legend, and despite the rivalry with the Patriots, I always liked him (maybe because I just liked his commercials, except for the REALLY stupid Oreo commercial with Eli). He did indeed put Indy on the map again, and that team and town owe so much to him. So sad to see him treated this way, despite the fiscal sense of it all.

Good luck to him.....

[deepak]

Agreed with the business reasons for cutting him, but morally of course...well, WTF do morals have to do with football teams....?

I heard on sports talk radio that there was a video "leaked" of him throwing 4 different style passes: left to right, long ball, etc. Supposedly secret cell phone video, but well edited to show just those 4 good looking passes I think Deepak is right that he really is damaged goods, though, and will never fully regain best form.

Still, he is a legend, and despite the rivalry with the Patriots, I always liked him (maybe because I just liked his commercials, except for the REALLY stupid Oreo commercial with Eli). He did indeed put Indy on the map again, and that team and town owe so much to him. So sad to see him treated this way, despite the fiscal sense of it all.

Good luck to him.....

Supposedly him here at Duke:

I too had a lot of respect for the guy after seeing the Colts season without him.

[swt61]

Who's Peyton Manning?

Kidding, kidding, just a little gay humor. I know he's a famous Basketball player.

[cetoole]

Steve, stop stealing my lines! Though I actually did know he played football, I just thought it was for the patriots.

[emelius]

http://blogs.indysta...t-indy-airport/

hmph...Peyton Manning & Jim Irsay at the airport...not sure why this makes me so sad...

Edited March 7, 2012 by emelius

[Wmcmanus]

Would be awesome if he did return to top form and this comes back to bite the Colts in a bad way. Would also be quite cool to see him play for the Jets just for the novelty effect of having them both in the same town.

[cobra_kai]

I don't think I could handle the media frenzy that would result from two Mannings in the same town although the renewed rivalry with Brady might elevate Pats - Jets as the best rivalry in football over my current favorite of Ravens - Steelers.

[grawk]

I fail to see a moral issue. Peyton Manning got paid a lot of money, and odds are good he has insurance to cover if his career is ended early. The team didn't think it was worth it to keep him, and his contract allowed for that. If someone else wants to hire him, great, if not, well, he had a great ride, and made a shit ton of money for playing a game that almost always ends the way his career ended. It's not like he was making $50k a year, and now he's going to be destitute.

[raffy]

Completely agree Dan.

While I hate the way football contracts are structured, I understand ultimately this is a business decision and that his release is completely within the stipulations of his contract. Personally, I would do the same thing if I were Jim Irsay.

I just believe it is hypocritical to have no expectation of loyalty from teams but players are expected to show loyalty and "take it for the team/fans". It should go both ways - if teams can (and almost always) make decisions based on what is good for their business and not get knocked for it, I think no one has any right to knock any player from making decisions based on what is economically best for him even if is against the concept of "loyalty". Simply put, I personally believe there is no loyalty in professional sports and there should be no expectation of seeing this from either player or teams. I think it's nice to see when people are loyal in sports but no one is entitled to it even the fans.

Edited March 7, 2012 by raffy

[deepak]

Would be awesome if he did return to top form and this comes back to bite the Colts in a bad way. Would also be quite cool to see him play for the Jets just for the novelty effect of having them both in the same town.

I don't think I could handle the media frenzy that would result from two Mannings in the same town although the renewed rivalry with Brady might elevate Pats - Jets as the best rivalry in football over my current favorite of Ravens - Steelers.

Jets salary cap is way high with all the geezers and bums they're paying

I think Nick Mangold is really the only one that deserves his high pay there.

[cobra_kai]

Revis deserves his pay IMO

Also I agree that Irsay and the colts are in no way morally obligated to keep someone like Manning but if he ends up being healthy I think it will be a mistake for them, from a perspective of royally pissing off the fan base. This is also assuming that whoever they draft can't really fill his shoes, which I think will be the case. If whoever steps in can do it relatively seamlessly then winning goes a long way to get over any lingering hard feelings.

Edited March 7, 2012 by cobra_kai

[skullguise]

I guess from a "moral" standpoint I was thinking more of how Peyton was treated. Apparently, little direct communication, various Twitter postings by Irsay that were pretty screwy, etc.

The business side of it is always that, and I fully expect it to be driven by the money. Ultimately, it was more the way Peyton was treated, after all he did for that owner, team, and even city. Did he get paid extremely well? Absolutely. Doesn't make a difference if he made the millions of $ or made the $50K; it's abou tthe respect I think he deserved rather than so much nbehind the back talk and dealings.

I may be way off base, as my only sources of info are what I read and hear on TV/Radio. But it seemed pretty consistent in reporting......

[grawk]

It absolutely makes a difference how much money's involved. It's a moral issue, if you leave someone without a way to support themselves with no warning. When millions of dollars are at stake, it's really just business. He did lots of the team, and was VERY well paid for it. At the end of the day, they parted ways.