Peyton Manning Rumors: Manning's Camp Right to Be Annoyed with Jim Irsay

As far as soap operas go, the back-and-forth that has gone on between Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay in recent months has been oddly captivating. There's something Shakespearean about it all.

On Friday, the latest controversy to come to light concerns just how much Manning and Irsay are negotiating with one another behind closed doors.

There's a report out from WTHR 13 in Indianapolis that Manning and Irsay have been talking and texting regularly with one another, and Irsay himself said on Thursday night that talks between them have been "upbeat and positive." 

There's a train of thought out there that things between Manning and Irsay are rocky, and that an ugly divorce is coming. Irsay says this is not the case.

"I've never looked at it as a divorce no matter what happens, along those lines," Irsay said. "It's really not.  It's just wrong to paint it that we're not close, because we always will be and we always have been."

Be that as it may, Pro Football Talk threw a little cold water on the positive vibes, reporting that Manning and Irsay have yet to talk about the one thing that really matters: money.

“Numbers aren’t being discussed,” said PFT's source.

PFT also offered this little nugget:

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We’re also told that there’s a feeling in the Manning camp that Irsay, who three weeks ago chastised Peyton for not keeping his concerns regarding the atmosphere at the team facility “in house,” has been talking “way too much.”  The perception there, and elsewhere, is that Irsay is trying too hard to avoid blame for Peyton’s potential departure.

"

This pretty much hits the nail on the head. There's no shortage of Colts fans out there who think that Irsay is running his mouth too much, and it seems Manning's camp agrees.

Irsay has indeed been running his mouth too much, and he's not doing a very good job of hiding the fact that he's just trying to cover his own butt in case this does end up being an ugly divorce. He's doing his best to make it look like he's the good guy, and that Manning is the bad guy.

I can understand where Irsay is coming from, but he's gone a little too far over the line. Instead of trying to manipulate public opinion, he should be hard at work determining whether bringing Manning back would be a good investment.

If he already knows that Manning's not worth it, he should stop beating around the bush and get the divorce over with. If he doesn't know whether Manning's worth it, he should save his words for later.

To be fair, Manning hasn't handled this situation perfectly, either. He got a little too candid when he spoke to the Indianapolis Star last month, and he didn't do a good job of getting out of the spotlight during the Super Bowl.

Irsay could have taken the high road, but he let that ship sail a long time ago. He's trying to make Manning look like the bad guy, but he apparently doesn't realize that he doesn't look like an angel in his own right.

Just goes to show how cheap talk really is.