Miami Dolphins: The Favorites in the Peyton Manning Market

Peyton Manning, will be one of the most sought after, if not the most sought after free agent to ever grace the open market in the NFL.

Many teams will call Manning for workouts and interviews, but in the end, Manning will truly be doing the interviewing when it comes to choosing the team he will play for.

Manning has made hundreds of millions of dollars in his life time, and while I do think money will be a factor, there will be other key factors in making his decision. So, I believe his top priorities are:

• Finding a team with solid ownership and a solid supporting cast, whom is willing to make other moves in mind to win NOW (both that franchise and Peyton know he has only a few more years in him, at best).
• Location will be a key factor. It's basically a proven fact that Peyton performs better in a dome/warm weather (.700 winning percentage in September, compared to .565 in December-January). On top of that, with his career coming to a close, I'm sure Peyton would love to be in a place where he can enjoy the weather year-around.
• Guaranteed money will be more important than the contract as a whole, at least in my eyes. I do not think this is the top priority and Manning has said that he is willing to play on an incentive-based contract, but if there are a couple of teams who are very close, I can definitely see guaranteed money being a deciding factor.

With that being said, here are the "Final Four" that I personally think have the best shot at signing Manning.

1. Miami Dolphins - Where to begin......the Dolphins have a true number one receiver in Brandon Marshall, Reggie Wayne wants to return to the place where he played college ball. The Dolphins could potentially sign Manning's old center, Jeff Saturday, which would move the versatile Mike Pouncey to guard. Add in that fantastic south Florida weather (where Peyton owns a home), and no state income tax...

It all just makes too much sense.

2. Arizona Cardinals - I'm skeptical to put Arizona this high, as they have the worst chance cap wise. But, they do have opportunities to make room for Manning and a number of desirable attributes, including the best wide receiver in the league, in Larry Fitzgerald.

3. San Francisco 49ers - Jim Harbaugh has said he is committed to Alex Smith, and contract talks are still taking place. However, if those conversations break, or SF has a change in heart, I would be shocked if the 49ers are not in Peyton's mind when making his final decision.

4. Washington Redskins - This is somewhat of a tricky one, as Washington's weather would not be ideal for Manning. I'm also not sure how he would like playing his brother twice a year. Word has it that Manning highly respects Redskins head coach, Mike Shanahan, and Dan Snyder has the funds to offer Manning a contract with a lot of guaranteed money.

Sources close to Manning have said that he will make a decision in the next week. It will be interesting to see what that decision is.

Paul Smythe runs a top-quality football blog with his friend John Bleech. Check it out at From the Pocket.