With all the Manning news going around, I feel like it's my duty to chime in. The press conference is over. Manning is officially free to sign anywhere. There will be wild speculation, and unnamed sources galore. I believe that I am a man of reason. Therefore, I am going to try and methodically work my way through this big mess. I am not sold on either Manning or Sanchez. I hope by the end of this article, I will have made a decision. Come join me after the jump to see how it all breaks down in my mind.
The first thing every team in the market for Manning is going to want to know is, how healthy is Peyton. If that neck is still iffy, the amount of interest will subdue very quickly. I am going to assume that he is going to be healthy and ready to go for the start of 2012. A healthy Peyton Manning, hands down, gives us a better shot at winning a Super Bowl. The question is, can he stay healthy? His age and past injuries have to be thrown into question. He is more likely to go down with a season ending injury than Sanchez. Sanchez took some evil hits last year, but always found a way to get right back up. With the Jets not cutting Wayne Hunter, it sends out the message that Tanny believes he can still start. If Hunter doesn't drastically improve, whoever our QB is, will be taking a lot of hits. More hits equals a greater chance of injury.With that said, the right hit in the wrong place can take any QB out. The question then is, who is backing them up? If we stick with Sanchez, we can possibly afford to bring in a decent QB to back him up. If we bring in Peyton, who would be backing him up, McElroy? We wouldn't be able to afford a suitable backup for Manning. We wouldn't have enough money to sign any guys to fill holes. We would have to look to the draft to fill a lot of needs. It's too much to ask for the draft to fill all our needs. On the other hand, If Sanchez stays, we have a little room to sign some players to fill needs. This factor gives Sanchez the edge, but there is also the Manning factor. Manning has the uncanny ability to make the players around him, better. This means, some positions we look at as needs, could turn out to be not as problematic as we thought.
People have been saying that if we get Peyton, we could be setting the team back for years. I don't believe this at all. If we get Manning and he doesn't work out, we will be looking for a new QB in 2013. I look at it this way. If Sanchez doesn't work out next year, we will probably be looking for a new QB also. The difference is, even if Sanchez stays healthy, he has an uphill battle to prove he should stay. I think we can all agree if Manning stays healthy, we won't have that worry.
I don't think I can definitively say which scenario I would rather happen. Each has its pitfalls, and each has its benefits. I won't be unhappy with either move going into the season. Once the season ends however, is a different story. Anyway, I want to get an understanding of where the best fit for Manning is. I am going to base this decision on Weather, Defense, Atmosphere, Receivers, Running Backs, O-Line, and Money. As of now, I have only heard of 7 teams interested in Manning. These teams are the Jets, Dolphins, Cadinals, Seahawks, Redskins, Chiefs, and Broncos. According to my calculations, the Chiefs are the best fit for Manning in 2012, while Denver would be the worst option. The Jets are tied for 4th with Miami. Of course none of this means much. I don't know what Manning really wants. It should be a fun few weeks.