Peyton Manning Rumors: Free Agent Won't Rush Decision on Broncos or Cardinals

Peyton Manning is going to take his sweet time in deciding where he's going to play what will most likely be the remainder of his hall of fame career, so if you're a fan of the Denver Broncos or Arizona Cardinals, don't start holding your breath just yet.

This is obviously a huge decision for Manning and there are a ton of factors that he's going to have to consider.

According to ESPN's Chris Mortenson and Adam Schefter, it's highly unlikely Manning will make his decision by the time NFL free agency officially opens up:

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Despite those sources' contention about the Broncos and Cardinals as favorites, Manning has not engaged either in contract negotiations or selected his next team and is highly unlikely to make that decision by Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, when the new league year begins for other free agents.

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The good news for Broncos or Cardinals fans? Their teams are apparently in the lead for arguably the biggest free agent to ever hit the NFL open market.

The bad news is that it still leaves time for Manning to talk to other teams and change his mind. Mortenson and Schefter's report does state that not all talks between Manning and interested teams have been public, so you never know.

What Does This Mean?

At this point, it really is tough to tell where Manning's mind is at. A week ago everybody was talking about Miami being the attractive spot, but now everything we're hearing is that the Broncos and Cardinals are the favorites.

Both teams make plenty of sense—the Broncos arguably become contenders with the addition of Manning, and the Cardinals boast Larry Fitzgerald, a good running game and a ton of potential—and it's hard to tell just exactly how Manning will go about making this decision.

Time will be a good thing for him, but I'm not sure how good it will be for the two front-runners.

More time means more opportunity to change his mind, or more chances to be wooed by a new suitor.

What's Next?

We wait, we speculate, and we earnestly check all of our sources and insider information coming out of Arizona, Denver and anyone related to the Manning camp.

Manning takes time continue his rehab, to think, and potentially listen to more pitches for his services.

Eventually, a decision will be made in regards to where he will ride off into the sunset.

Depending on what the state of his health actually is, this decision has the ability to impact the landscape of the NFL as we know it.