Peyton Manning Rumors: Colts Wasting Time Denying QB's Inevitable Departure

Why Jim Irsay and Peyton Manning continue to play this game is beyond me.

The Colts owner was quoted by Manish Mehta in the New York Daily News regarding Manning's future with the team:

"

Obviously the media has been very hungry for comments and those sort of things. There’s a great interest here in Indianapolis. But Peyton and I, in talking this weekend and everything, we want the focus to be on the game.

"

Yes, the Colts' home turf, Lucas Oil Stadium, is hosting Super Bowl XLVI. Yes, Peyton's kid brother Eli is bringing his team into town. And yes, the Colts are extremely vulnerable as the owners of the No. 1 overall pick.

But none of that is blinding anyone to the writing on the wall. None of that is enough to mask the fact that the Colts' decision-making body was gutted beyond recognition. 

None of that is enough to hide Manning's lingering health issues and financial burden he poses to the organization.

The Colts aren't a good football team right now. Period.

Irsay didn't axe a locker room favorite, Jim Caldwell, and front office people, the Polians, who helped him win one Super Bowl and compete in another because he wanted to.

He didn't hire a first-time head coach and first-time general manager because he believed his team is ready to win now.

In fact, he did all these things for the exact opposite reason.

Things are changing in Indianapolis—they already have—and Manning is truly the last piece of the old guard still hanging on.

Come March 8 there is no justifiable way, even with Manning's legendary status, for the Colts to pay the future Hall of Fame quarterback a $28 million roster bonus.

Irsay would be crippling the potential future of this ballclub and would then have at least $50 million locked into two players at a position where only one player can shine at a time.

Call it a tough pill to swallow. Call it a necessary evil. Call it whatever you want.

Irsay and Manning are wasting time denying the inevitable. Manning's future and the Colts organization's future are not tied to one another anymore.

The Colts future needs to be tied to Andrew Luck.

The sooner Irsay and Manning part ways, the better it will be for everyone.