Peyton Manning Rumors: Latest Updates on Superstar's NFL Future

UPDATE: Tuesday, March 6th at 2:30 p.m. EST

A divorce between Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts may not be as inevitable as previously expected.

According to NFL insider Mike Lombardi, the Colts may be inclined to keep Manning for the 2012 season and beyond, especially if he is, indeed, throwing the ball well again. As previously expected, the issue lies with the $28 million bonus, though it may not be as prohibitive in the big picture as you might think:

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“I think now, with a new regime in place, I do believe they’re going to try to keep him there if they can. They have to protect their asset. They can’t let Peyton walk out of there and cut him and get nothing for him. I mean to me, here’s the situation. If they release him, it costs $16 million on their cap. If they keep him, it costs $17 million on their cap. So basically, it’s a one million difference. The biggest difference, and this is huge for everyone to understand, is it would cost [Jim] Irsay $28 million to make that difference. So for lack of $28 million, he’s still going to count on the cap. So it’s a cash issue, not a cap issue.”

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In other words, if Jim Irsay is either comfortable with handing Manning the big bonus he's owed (doubtful) or able to renegotiate that bonus in such a way that's more palatable to ownership and still reasonable for player (possible), then the Andrew Luck Era in the Circle City may yet have to wait.

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NEWSFLASH: Peyton Manning will likely play in the NFL in 2012...just not for the Indianapolis Colts.

This according to Mike Florio of NBC's ProFootballTalk, whose sources close to the quarterback also believe that Manning will be the Comeback Player of the Year next season.

Colts owner Jim Irsay must decide whether or not to keep Manning by March 8th, at which point the team would owe the quarterback a $28 million bonus just for being on the roster. Manning signed a new five-year, $90 million deal with the Colts just last year, before sitting out the 2011 season with a career-threatening neck injury.

Manning was medically cleared earlier this week by his doctors, who said that his neck had healed properly from the three separate procedures he underwent over the previous year-and-a-half. However, the Colts appear unlikely to keep their franchise star, as Irsay has already signaled that he's looking to start fresh with Andrew Luck, the presumed No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, as his quarterback of the future following a dismal 2-14 season.

Having two highly-paid quarterbacks like Manning and Luck on the roster would be financially unfeasible for the Colts, who are already cap-strapped with veteran players earning hefty salaries, not to mention up-and-comers who will soon be looking to get paid. Luck, too, has suggested that he wants to play right away, though he's certainly open to the possibility of learning behind a future Hall of Famer like Manning.

Chances are, though, that Manning will hit the open market before Luck ever sports a horseshoe-emblazened helmet. Quarterback-challenged teams around the league—namely the Washington Redskins, the Miami Dolphins, the Arizona Cardinals, the New York Jets and the Tennessee Titans—are expected to drive the bidding war for Manning's services once he's cut loose.

Thereby kicking off the 2012 free-agency season early with perhaps the most intriguing courtship process in NFL history.

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