Peyton Manning Rumors: Why Peyton Won't Be a New York Jet Anytime Soon

We all want secretly want it.

No. 18 in a New York Jets uniform in the 2012 season. Just think of the possibilities, a healthy Peyton Manning with that defense? Maybe Rex Ryan wouldn't be so crazy to predict a Super Bowl championship for a squad with one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time leading the way.

Signing Peyton Manning is about the only way the Jets could top the defending Super Bowl champion Giants for back-page headlines. After all, most of the headlines about the Jets right now are anything but optimistic.

New York finished a hugely disappointing 8-8 last season, failing to make the playoffs for the first time in the Ryan-Sanchez era. On top of that, one of their captains last year, Santonio Holmes, had a noticeable feud with Sanchez, and plenty of issues about the Jets locker room have leaked out since the season has ended.

Long story short, they're a mess. But the one thing people don't seem to realize is that, talent-wise, the Jets are still right there. By and large, this is still the same team who made two straight AFC Championships. The pieces aren't gone, just broken. So what better way to glue them back together than by making one of the biggest signings in history and getting Peyton Manning in a Jets uniform.

It sounds great, and we all know the Jets won't shy away from a big signing. But its not going to happen—plain and simple.

If and when Peyton Manning is let go by the Colts, it may very well be the case that the Jets make his short list of teams. But for several reasons, this move will not happen. 

First off, one has to question any team willing to take a chance on a player in the twilight of his career coming off neck surgery last season. Sure, if Manning's healthy, he could be great, but taking a flyer on him for the price he will assuredly cost could be a huge risk. 

Not to mention that signing Manning ends any potential future for the Jets and their current quarterback Mark Sanchez. Simply put, the Jets are not willing to part ways with Sanchez yet; he has had too much success over his first three years as a starter for that to happen.

No one is denying that Sanchez needs to play better if this team is going to win, but one bad season after two straight AFC title games is not going to be enough for Mike Tannenbaum to risk the future of this franchise on signing what could end up being a washed-up Manning.

Sanchez already has shaky confidence at best; what if Manning came for one year, and it failed? Could the Jets really expect Sanchez to step back in and take over as a starter?

The Jets need to sign a quality backup quarterback to push Sanchez in the offseason and potentially relieve him during the year if he struggles. Manning is not that guy. If Peyton is on the roster, Sanchez is on the bench, and you lose him forever.

Would Manning even be a good fit in New York?

Peyton played his whole career in Indianapolis under quiet, soft-spoken head coaches in Tony Dungy and Jim Caldwell. Stepping into the bright lights of New York and playing under Rex Ryan would be stepping way out of his comfort zone.

Why would Manning even want to come to New York? Considering all the offseason turmoil, if I were him, I wouldn't want to risk the remaining good years I had left with a team whose No. 1 receiver publicly called out their quarterback last season and quit in the last game of the year.

Finally, the Jets have been here before. The year was 2008, and Mike Tannenbaum, the Jets general manager, signed Brett Favre out of retirement in what turned out to be the biggest spectacle of the offseason.

After a 9-7 season in which they failed to make the playoffs, Favre was gone, and the experiment was deemed a failure. At the time, the Jets had an unproven young quarterback, Kellen Clemens, on their bench, but once Favre signed, everyone knew Clemens would likely never be a starter in New York again (although he did step in for one game in 2009 after a Mark Sanchez injury).  

Do the Jets really want to go down that road again? If this wasn't a Super-Bowl-or-bust team already, signing Manning would add even more pressure to a team that needs anything but that going in to the 2012 season.

With teams out there like Miami and Arizona that are much better fits for Manning, he's not going to end up in New York, whether us Jets fans may secretly yearn for it or not.

With all the controversy that surrounds the team right now, maybe laying low for once wouldn't be such a bad idea.