2012 NFL Draft Order: Peyton Manning Won't Quit but Colts Must Draft Andrew Luck

Colts fans and people who don't like change need to brace themselves. When the Colts' season begins in 2012, Andrew Luck will be the man under center. What that means is that when Peyton Manning's 2012 season starts, he will not be in a Colts uniform. 

I say this despite Joe Theisman's interview on XM Radio, as was reported by Nate Davis of USA Today. He does believe that the Colts should draft Luck, but doesn't think Manning will play for another team. 

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I hope (Manning) does come back, but I would say right now on this show, I don't think Peyton Manning will be back in a uniform to play football, for his health and for his safety.

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Remember that Manning was never placed on injured reserve throughout the course of the 2011 season. He was even throwing some passes in practice at the end of the year. Nothing about that tells me that he's ready to come out and retire. 

By the same token, it's going to be hard to keep both Manning and Luck on a roster. It's possible, but the Colts will also need to bring in other players. It's going to be very hard to do that, and have both Manning and Luck on the roster. 

And even if it was possible, neither of these men are made to back up. Luck the most NFL ready quarterback to come out of college in a long time. Drafting him to ride the bench for a year or two is not going to make any sense. 

There's only one logical solution, although there's a few ways to arrive at it.

First of all, the Colts have to draft Luck. This isn't like the Rams, who have a young quarterback with promise in place. Manning doesn't have enough time left in the NFL to force the Colts to pass on a player like Luck. 

That means that Manning is gone. 

So, the Colts have a few options. One is that they can release him, which would save them $28 million. If they trade him, they can't do so before March 12. As Manning's contract currently reads, if he's on the Colts on March 12, they owe him the money. 

If they can agree to a restructured deal with Manning, they should trade him. If not, they should release him. It's that simple. 

When the Colts lost to the Jaguars in Week 17 and locked up the No. 1 pick. In the process, they guaranteed that Manning had played his last game with the Colts. 

There's no way that they can not take Luck, and it makes no sense to keep both quarterbacks on the roster. Manning will finish his career like John Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana, and Brett Favre. It will not be in the same uniform that made him an NFL legend.

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