Peyton Manning Rumors: Manning Reportedly Done Visiting Teams

It appears as though the greatest free-agent pursuit in the recent history of the National Football League has already become a two-team race, as either the Denver Broncos or Arizona Cardinals are reportedly the prohibitive favorites to secure the services of former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

According to a report on Rotoworld, while appearing on ESPN's SportsCenter on Monday, Adam Schefter stated that after spending the weekend visiting the Broncos and Cardinals, the four-time NFL MVP has no more visits with teams scheduled. The 14-year veteran signal-caller may already be done shopping and ready to begin his decision-making process.

"

Manning visited Denver and Arizona over the weekend, and they are the front-runners to sign him. "The Broncos look like the favorites," Schefter said. "The Cardinals are in contention. There might be one more team, like the Dolphins, he'll wind up talking to." In other words, don't look for Manning to visit Miami's facility. That doesn't remove the Dolphins from contention, but they're certainly behind the other teams.

"

The Miami Dolphins have been one of the teams that had been rumored all along to be among the squads most interested in signing Manning, but the interest is apparently fairly one-sided.

However, as Schefter stated, Miami may not be completely out of the running, and as Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reported Monday all hope may not be lost on South Beach, even though Dolphins headquarters has gone into lockdown mode where Manning is concerned.

"I asked my sources if it's fair to believe lockdown mode is a sign the club is still in the game for No. 18 and doesn't want to hurt those chances.

"Fair," one source responded.

"Correct," another source responded.

There you go, folks. The Dolphins are still in the Manning sweepstakes. It is not over after Manning's trips to Denver and Arizona. Doesn't mean the Dolphins will get Manning. But there is still hope.

"

It does appear, however, that the Kansas City Chiefs, who reportedly had a contract offer in place for Manning, have been eliminated from contention.

The Seattle Seahawks have also seemingly been left standing at the proverbial altar (or at least stood up by their blind date), as Schefter's report would seem to throw cold water on an optimistic report Sunday night by Eric Williams of the Tacoma-News Tribune.

"

Contrary to an earlier report by the Denver Post, a team source with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Peyton Manning has not declined an invitation to visit with the Seattle Seahawks, which means the door remains open that the future Hall of Famer could expand his trips to include a possible visit to Seattle.

For now, Seattle will have to wait to see if Manning will take any more trips after traveling to Denver and Arizona this weekend. But according to the team, Manning hasn’t shut the door on a possible visit to Seattle.

"

It would also seem that a late entry into the Manning sweepstakes may be finished before they even got off the ground, as although Tennessee Titans owner Bud Grant told the Nashville Tennessean  that Manning is "the man I want. Period," Yahoo! Sports' Doug Farrar views the Manning-Titans love affair as one-sided at best.

"

The overarching point is that Peyton Manning has had more than enough drama in the last year.  He wants to play football for as long as he can, and perhaps win another Super Bowl with the right organization. A franchise whose owner runs roughshod over the people he hires to take care of personnel? Probably not the most attractive option at this point.

"

As Schefter said, it looks like the Broncos are the clubhouse favorites at this point to land Peyton Manning, but Vic Lombardi of CBS-4 TV in Denver may have jumped the gun a bit this weekend, as this tweet from Lombardi was quickly refuted by a number of sources.

"

Just heard from my peoples. Broncos now 95% confident he'll sign with Denver. Their number, not mine.

— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) March 12, 2012"

Denver fans may not want to run out and grab that No 18 jersey just yet, however, as although the Broncos may well have surged into the lead to land the biggest free-agent catch in years, the Peyton Manning drama is far from over.

Given that no one really expected the Broncos to be in the running a few weeks ago, there may still be a surprise or two to come.

Follow @IDPManor