Peyton Manning Rumors: Jim Irsay Trying to Play Good Guy With Latest Remarks

The oddest and most awkward story in the NFL is taking yet another weird turn.

It’s no secret that Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay is prepared to release Peyton Manning next month and is trying to do so in a polite manner.

He spoke with Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star on Tuesday and seemed like he was trying to sound like a gentleman and not somebody who’ll likely send the face of the franchise and only four-time MVP packing:

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We can make it work if he wants to be here. We’d be excited to have him back and finish his career with us. I want him to be able to make the choice. We would love to have him back here if he can get healthy and we can look at doing a contract that reflects the uncertainty of the . . . healing process with the regeneration of the nerve.

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Essentially Irsay is saying Manning is welcomed back if he restructures his entire contract to give him the right to kick him to the curb at any given moment. A guy that has numerous NFL records in his back pocket would roughly have the same job security of a gunner on special times.

Irssay doesn’t sound like such a nice guy now, huh?

The bitter divorce is coming and Irsay doesn’t want the entire city of Indianapolis to hate him. Understandable, but if Irsay doesn’t think people are seeing right through him, he is living in his own world.

It’s a PR move and nothing more.

Manning is owed $28M on March 8th if he’s still on the team. That will trigger the remaining four years of his five-year $90M deal. With the uncertainties of his neck, Irsay shouldn’t take such a risk with Andrew Luck. Irsay knows this, and needs to stop teasing fans that Manning could still potentially return.

This has truly become a soap opera made for a movie script, and Irsay has done nothing but fan the flames with his latest remarks.

So unless Manning is willing to take a drastic pay cut while risking his neck for a non-guaranteed contract, absolutely nothing has changed.