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Peyton Manning wants to win a Super Bowl, he wants a good supporting cast and a good organization that is itching for him to join.
The AFC East is going to be very difficult to win with Tom Brady. He’s probably not terribly interested in sharing the city with his brother, and his personality would be like oil and vinegar with Rex Ryan and that awful locker room. The Jets don’t have the cap space for him anyway.
The Dolphins make a ton of sense because Manning wouldn’t have to unseat anybody, and they have plenty of cap room, a top LT, and a good enough supporting cast offensively. They’ve got warm climate, and they’re close to a home of his. But again, the Dolphins are in the AFC East, and they are changing their defense to a 4-3, which is going to require a season at LEAST for transition. In other words, Manning will be reduced once again to having to win shootouts.
The Texans don’t want him. The 49ers don’t want him. They could both improve with him, but they’re married to their QBs.
The Redskins are just a disasterous organization, with a horrendous supporting cast. They’d meet every demand he wants, but they’re in an even tougher division than the AFC East; the NFC East. Three other playoff teams. Manning wants no part of the Redskins.
The Seahawks are another disasterous organization. They’ve got a phenomenal fanbase, but they’re on the other side of the continent. That may literally be a bridge too far. They make a ton of questionable personnel moves, and they have some cap space to be competitive.
Same with the Cardinals. Although they’ve got a coaching staff that’s probably more reliable than Pete Carroll. They’re also a dome team, we can’t overlook that.
But both the Seahawks and the Cardinals have iffy defenses, and bad offensive lines. Matter of fact, the Cardinals offensive line is disasterous — they let their starting LT hit the market, and he’ll get middling offers at best. The Seahawks have a great LT in Okung, but Okung is simply not durable. (By contrast, Albert missed one whole snap last year.)
Outside of Kansas City, the only organization that makes a ton of sense for Manning are the Donkeys in Denver. Sad to say. They’ve got a rabid fanbase, a good and improving defense, and a front office that, while overrated, will be comfortable enough to let Manning do whatever he wants. They have a very good offensive line, although their run game is vastly overrated.
The only conceivable problem you could have with Denver is… Tebow. Thank you again, Josh McDaniels. Tebow enlists to the same agency that Manning does, and he’s the entrenched starter that the fanbase loves. The latest poll on MileHighReport.com, recorded that only 60% of the fanbase would welcome Manning. Most of them are on board with Tebow mania, and you gotta know that Manning doesn’t want to get in the way of that phenomenon.
If Manning wants a fanbase completely behind him, a coaching staff that he can trust and will trust him, a front office that will move heaven and earth to build the roster at killer prices (which will only get better with Manning on board), a potentially lethal run game, a great set of receivers (with room enough for Wayne — Crennel would bring out Baldwin anyway in multiple WR sets), a need for a center in Jeff Saturday, we’ll draft a tackle in the first round this year giving us two first-round talents bookending an already good line, a community similar to Indy, a soft division that all but guarantees a playoff run, a great and improving defense with two passrushers, an intense run defense and elite secondary, and more money than Manning would get anywhere else…….
The math seems to be in favor of Kansas City.
I’m doing the best I can to repress my long lost optimism. But it’s getting much, much harder.
