I can sympathize with football writers running low on content due to the lockout looking at unlikely angles for a story, but Gary Myers takes it to a new level in this morning's Daily News. He thinks Peyton Manning could sign with the Jets.
In either case, Quinn said the franchise tags will be challenged. If the players win, Manning would be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. What do you think he would be worth on the open market? Let the bidding start at $25 million per year.
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The Jets are a win-now team, and inserting Manning for the next couple of years could finally end their Super Bowl drought.
"If I'm the Jets, why wouldn't you go after Peyton Manning?" one prominent agent said yesterday. "You have all those PSLs you have to sell. Isn't (GM) Mike Tannenbaum's job to make the team better? If you are a Jets fan, you talk about Christmas coming early. They could still keep Sanchez. If you can get Peyton Manning, can you say no?"
Makes sense, right? The problem is the logic falls apart when one goes beyond this shallow analysis. Manning would have to want to leave Indianapolis. There is no indication he would be willing to do so. He would have to want to chase every last dollar. However, he has never hit the open market in his career. Had he wanted to do that, he might have made good on his opportunities to be a free agent in the past and gotten his price ratcheted up on the open market. The Jets would have to outbid every team, including a Colts club that would be desperate to keep him.
Considering how much Manning would cost, it is no foregone conclusion the Jets could keep Sanchez contrary to what the classic nameless prominent agent says. I don't even think that would be an impediment. Yes, Sanchez has made good strides, but Manning is the best in the game. With the team the Jets have, they would be instant Super Bowl favorites with him.
The problem is Manning has made more than enough money to be financially secure in his career and is both apparently happy and capable of contending for a title in Indianapolis.