Peyton Manning Speculation: Could Arizona Cardinals Be Poised for Power Play?

As the speculation about Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning's future in both the NFL and Indy continues to dominate NFL coverage—Super what? Bah, boring—anything even tangentially related to the four-time NFL MVP becomes fuel for the fire, including this tweet from Adam Schefter:

"

Update: Cardinals hired Frank Reich, Peyton Manning's former QB coach, as their wide receivers coach.

—Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter), February 8, 2012."

On its face, this could (and probably does) mean nothing, but this isn't the first time that the Cardinals have been mentioned as a potential suitor for Manning should he be released.

Local media in Arizona has speculated for some time that Manning could be a target of the Cardinals should he become available.

There was further buzz regarding the subject last week when rumors swirled that Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Manning were going to have dinner together, although Fitzgerald later refuted the rumor.

Rumors about people eating. That's where we're at with this, folks.

All this claptrap relies on two rather large assumptions.

First, that Manning will be healthy and able to play in 2012, and, if so, that he'd have any interest in coming to Arizona.

The Cardinals started the 2011 season horribly, but they came on strong down the stretch—finishing 8-8—and the team has enough talent on both sides of the ball that they could conceivably convince Manning that he could be the last piece in a playoff puzzle.

Plus, the weather's nice, and the Cardinals can point to the success of a certain other quarterback who was nearing the end of his career and came to the Valley of the Sun and excelled.

Okay, we'll go there. Let's say he can play, and he likes Filiberto's Mexican food.

The second sticking point is what to do with quarterback Kevin Kolb.

The Cardinals signed him to a $63 million contract (with $21 million guaranteed) just last year, and it's unclear whether Arizona's front office would be willing to pony up the cabbage it would take to land Manning.

Kolb spent much of last year injured and still hasn't really shown anything special as an NFL starting quarterback. So, if my choice is Kolb or Manning, there is no choice, and Kolb would be out the door in a heartbeat

However, given the Bidwill family's history of frugality, I'd say it's pretty unlikely that they'd eat the Kolb money and pony up a king's ransom for Peyton Manning.

That being said, the Bidwills have loosened the purse strings in recent years, and Super Bowl XLIII may have given them an itch they feel they just have to scratch, costs be damned.

Regardless, a decision would have to be made quickly, as free agency opens March 13 and Kolb is due a $7 million roster bonus on March 17. That leaves precious little time to make a decision that could impact the Cardinals (and their salary cap) for years.

In the opinion of this writer (who just happens to live in the Phoenix area), Peyton Manning will probably not be under center for the Cardinals in 2012, and the oddsmakers seem to agree.

If nothing else, all this speculation has at least given Cardinals fans something to think about besides the idea of Kevin Kolb dropping back on opening weekend next season.