Tony Dungy Is Right: San Francisco 49ers Are Dream Fit for Peyton Manning

After a tearful press conference announcing that the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning will part ways after 14 seasons, the next step in the future Hall of Fame signal-caller's career is finding a new team to call home, and one of Manning's former coaches believes that the best fit for the four-time MVP may be several thousand miles west of Indianapolis.

As Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network tweeted earlier Wednesday, former Colts head coach Tony Dungy, who won Super Bowl XLI with Manning as his quarterback, thinks that "fit" is a much more important factor in Manning's considerations than money, and Dungy thinks that the San Francisco 49ers meet that first criteria quite nicely.

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Dungy says PM's next team has to be close to winning with good weapons. "Not every team fits that mold." Mentions SF as team that does fit

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 7, 2012"

Dungy's sentiments echo those of former San Francisco 49ers great Jerry Rice, who recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that the 49ers should absolutely look into acquiring Manning once he hits the open market (which would be, um, now):

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I think you go for it, you really do. You have to go after him. You’ve got a defense that’s going to smack you in the mouth, but you need a little more from the offense. Not knocking what Alex Smith did … but a guy with the knowledge and talent of Peyton Manning, I think you’d take it to a whole different level. If he’s healthy, he’s going to have a chip on his shoulder like crazy. He’s going to be pissed.

 

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Manning's health after multiple neck surgeries is of course a huge caveat in any speculations about his playing future, and it's not like the San Francisco 49ers necessarily "need" to make a play for his services. Starter Alex Smith had the best season of his seven-year career in 2011 with the 49ers advancing to the NFC Championship game, and CSN Bay Area's Matt Maiocco reports that San Francisco has an offer on the table for Smith and is not interested in pursuing Manning:

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The 49ers have an "offer on the table" to scheduled free agent Alex Smith and the club is not interested in signing veteran quarterback Peyton Manning, a well-placed source told CSNBayArea.com on Wednesday. Coach Jim Harbaugh has said repeatedly that Smith "is our guy" with the 49ers. And the 49ers are actively attempting to lock up Smith to a multi-year contract, according to the source. Agent Tom Condon represents Smith and Manning.

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If this is the case, then Harbaugh's loyalty to Smith may be blinding him to the opportunity to improve an already formidable squad, as although Smith is a solid starting quarterback, his best statistical season isn't as good as Manning's worst one.

The 49ers might also be able to plug another hole in their lineup at a reduced rate if reports that wide receiver Reggie Wayne is interested in following Manning in a sort of "package" deal are to be believed, such as the one recently penned by none other than Peter King of Sports Illustrated:

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Such a pairing would not only be a plus for Manning, who would love to see it happen, according to one NFL source. But also it would allow him to go to his new team with one familiar receiving face, and if you can say one thing about Manning, it's that he loves familiarity, particularly in how his receivers anticipate throws and the precision of their route-running.

 

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It appears unlikely, however, that this will come to pass, which makes an already surreal day in the National Football League that much weirder, as not only have we seen Peyton Manning released but it now appears that a NFL front office is apparently choosing Alex Smith over him.

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