Peyton Manning Rumors: Redskins Can Do Better Than Manning

The Indianapolis Colts still have just about a month of heavy-duty thinking time to pass before they have to decide whether or not to keep Peyton Manning.

In case you haven't already noticed, there are going to be a lot of rumors coming out until the Colts make up their minds. It will be even worse once they do.

Some of them are intriguing, though. Case in point is the idea that Manning could sign with the Washington Redskins if the Colts cut him loose. 

ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted on Super Sunday that Manning is actually on Washington's radar:

A couple days later, Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com wrote that "everyone" he talks to these days believes the Redskins will sign Manning if he does end up becoming a free agent.

These are just a couple rumors. Goodness knows there's no shortage of speculation elsewhere. Same goes for opinions. 

Most notably, you probably heard what Joe Theismann had to say. If not, just know that he called the notion of the Redskins pursuing Manning a "horrific" idea.

That got a lot of play. What didn't get a lot of play was Theismann's reasoning. Here it is, via the Washington Post:

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“It’s not a good idea, it’s not a bad idea—It’s a horrific idea,” he told 106.7 The Fan’s Mike Wise and Holden Kushner last week. “It would be one of the poorest things that we could do as a franchise. Are we gonna go find another guy for just a couple of years again? Haven’t we done this before? Haven’t we seen this act before? And by the way, if you get Peyton Manning, don’t you have a concern about protecting him? Don’t you have a concern about who he throws the football to?...

“We’re tired of looking for stop gaps,” Theismann continued. “It’s time to draft one of your own, or make a deal for a young one of your own, and nurture him, and then put the players around him. If we’re gonna be 5-11, if we’re gonna be 6-10, let’s do it with somebody who’s [learning as he goes], instead of guys that have been here, making mistakes.”

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Once you take the word "horrific" out of the equation, this doesn't look so bad. In fact, Theismann was right 100 percent of the way.

If Manning checks out as being fully healthy, he'll be able to play well. He's done enough throughout his career to prove that he deserves the benefit of the doubt to that end. The Redskins would not be pursuing a lame-duck quarterback. They would be pursuing a very good quarterback.

My question is how much they would have to pay to get him. Assuming Manning checks out as being fully healthy, it would presumably have to be a lot. Manning's not going to work for pennies and we can rest assured there will be a bidding war for his services if he hits free agency.

Redskins owner Dan Snyder has a tendency to be more liberal with his cash than most. This is probably at least part of the reason why Freeman's people are telling him Manning will end up with the Redskins.

It would have to be a short deal, though. Manning is not getting any younger and let's face it, nobody knows if he's going to get any better. His days as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL will come to an end very soon, if they haven't already.

Like Theismann said, we're talking about a stop-gap option. To boot, the possibility exists that Manning would be yet another of Snyder's failures. The same goes for Matt Flynn and the same most definitely goes for Kyle Orton.

Now consider the alternative, which should be pretty obvious. If the Redskins don't go for Manning or one of the others, they could go for Robert Griffin III in the draft.

In late January, Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network reported (via CSNWashington.com) that execs around the league expect the Redskins to make a move for Griffin. 

The NFL Network's Michael Lombardi had this to say on Friday, via Evan Silva of Rotoworld:

Good, because the Redskins are going to need to trade up to the No. 2 spot to get Griffin. I'm not sold on the idea that a simple friendship will be the difference, but it can't hurt.

If it's a choice between Manning and Griffin, the Redskins would be stupid not to go for Griffin. He's a quarterback with an insanely high ceiling. The Redskins could build a team around him and could keep him around for a long time.

With Griffin in the fold, the sky would be the limit for the Redskins.

You can't say the same of what it would be like if the Redskins brought Manning in. The ceiling would be low and the time frame would be brief. Manning would be an upgrade, but the Redskins would have to rebuild in no time at all after signing him.

If it were to come to that, the Redskins would be in a position to make the same mistake all over again. Donovan McNabb in 2010, Manning in 2012, and so on.

The Redskins may never get a better opportunity to set the organization on the right track. They should do what they can to seize it.