Peyton Manning Rumors: Arizona Cardinals Would Be Foolish to Rent Star QB

While it may sound like a tempting move, the Arizona Cardinals must resist the urge to bring Peyton Manning to the desert. 

As was reported by Adam Green of Arizona Sports, ESPN's Adam Schefter went on "Mike & Mike in the Morning" and said that the Cardinals are expected to be in on the Manning sweepstakes. 

How quickly we forget that the Cardinals gave up Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second round pick to get Kevin Kolb less than a year ago. They owe it to themselves to give Kolb more than one season under center. 

After all, it's not as though Kolb is a bad quarterback. Look at what he did for the Cardinals in 2011 in only nine games.

Yards	Completions/Attempts	Percentage	Passing Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions
1,955	146/253	57.7	1,955	9	8

Over a 16-game season, that translates to just short of 3,500 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. For a 27-year-old quarterback with one quality receiver, that isn't a bad first season with a team. 

As great as Manning once was, he just missed an entire season of NFL action due to a neck injury and will be 36 in March. Even if he comes in and has a great season for the Cardinals, he is nothing more than a rental player. 

At this point, it's not worth the cost. Whatever team ends up with Manning will end up paying a lot of money to get him. For a team without a clear direction at quarterback, I can understand making that jump. A team like the Cardinals would be foolish to do to. 

You must remember that this isn't a matter of looking at Manning against Kolb and asking who the better quarterback is, or even who will have the better 2012 season. It goes a little deeper than that. 

Manning will be 36 next season, while Kolb will be 28. They already gave up a lot of value to get Kolb. Bringing Manning in would be essentially throwing in the towel on the Kolb move, and also adding a lot of money onto the books.

Kolb deserves a full training camp and season with the Cardinals. They would also be well served to bring in a receiver to line up on the other side of Larry Fitzgerald. Without that, whoever the Cardinals' quarterback is will have a difficult season.

Manning may well be one of the best quarterbacks of all time—his Hall of Fame resume is not up for debate.

But while Schefter and Chris Mortensen reported that Manning was medically cleared for action on Thursday, he is still a gigantic question mark. It can't be stated too often that Manning missed an entire NFL season and also has had three neck surgeries. A quarterback that age with that kind of medical history is too much of a risk. 

Kolb has played well enough to earn at least another season as the Cardinals' quarterback. He has certainly done enough to keep the Cardinals from risking everything that comes with Manning. Other teams have the need to gamble on him. The Cardinals aren't going to be at that point this offseason. 

Follow @mdixon1985