Peyton Manning Signing Will Make or Break John Elway's Legacy

With possibly the biggest signing in free agency history bound to take place with the Broncos reportedly negotiating a contract with Peyton Manning's agent, it's somewhat safe to finally come to the conclusion that Manning will be a Denver Bronco in 2012, and will undoubtedly be the starting quarterback come the season opener in September.

That much is obvious.

However, what isn't as obvious, is John Elway's legacy as a front office head.

With the Manning signing becoming official at any moment over the next few hours or days, the Broncos will likely look to trade incumbent starting quarterback Tim Tebow.

Here's the situation at hand. The Broncos are trading away a quarterback who is as inaccurate as they come, but is the best running quarterback in the league. This quarterback just led the Broncos to their first playoff berth, division title, home playoff game and playoff victory since 2005.

This was all after the Broncos had started the season 1-4 with Kyle Orton at quarterback, and had accumulated the worst record in the NFL over the past two seasons from the time they started 6-0 in 2009, until the time that Tebow took over in Week 7 versus the Miami Dolphins.

The reason why they are doing so, is because they are signing probably the biggest free agent name in NFL history. The only four-time NFL MVP in league history, a Super Bowl MVP and champion, a quarterback who ranks near the top in just about every statistical category and a quarterback who hasn't missed the playoffs (while healthy) since 2001.

So when you look at the trade-off, it seems obvious that despite the successful season that Player A had in 2011, it's only logical that you'd take Player B and just give away Player A for a bag of chips, right?

Nothing is quite as simple as that in the NFL.

As amazing as Manning is (or was), the fact of the matter is that he's coming off four neck surgeries over the past couple of years. And although he has been medically cleared to play, as he has passed physicals for not only the Broncos, but the Niners and Titans also, no one knows for sure how Manning will look when he steps onto the field in a real NFL game come August and September for the first time in nearly two years.

Manning might look good throwing passes on an open field to Brandon Stokely. How will he hold up throwing those same passes during the course of a 60 minute NFL game?

Will the nerves in his neck allow him to take the hits that every quarterback has to endure? Will it also allow him to remain as accurate and as strong as he was at the beginning of the game by the time the game is coming to a close, and the Broncos are in a one possession game?

What happens if the Broncos are in a short yardage situation and the situation calls for an obvious quarterback sneak? Will the Broncos allow themselves and Manning to risk further injury to his neck by diving headfirst in between several 300 pound lineman?

The point is this. If the Broncos are to trade Tebow, is it plausible to think that Tebow may never develop into a worthy starting quarterback, thus negating any second guessing as to Elway's decision to trade Tebow?

Sure. We all know how inaccurate Tebow is, and we all saw during the last quarter of the NFL season, how Tebow discouragingly regressed, rather than progressed, as the season came to a close.

However, in spite of all of Tebow's flaws as a quarterback, he did just lead the Broncos to the Divisional Round of the playoffs after having been the second worst team in the NFL the previous season.

How many quarterbacks are traded a few months after having led their team to that kind of success, after having been one of the worst teams in the NFL the previous season?

At the same time, Tebow was by far the most inaccurate quarterback in the NFL in 2011. He completed less than 47 percent of his passes. There has never been a quarterback in NFL history who has won consistently while displaying that sort of ineptitude when it comes to passing the football.

Elway is probably thinking that the Broncos won't be able to win on an annual basis and compete for a Super Bowl with Tebow playing the way he does. Which is a perfectly fair assessment.

He probably also believes that Tebow won't improve much as a passer from what we've seen from Tebow over the first two seasons of his career. Which is also another fair assessment.

Having said that, noting the positives and negatives of both Manning and Tebow, there is one thing that we can take from the Manning signing.

It will define Elway's legacy.

You have Manning, arguably the greatest quarterback to play in the history of the NFL, signing with the Broncos.

You have Tebow, the most popular player in the NFL, an owner's dream player to have on the team because of not only his marketability on and off the field, but because of his leadership skills and his ability to bring the best out of his teammates.

If Tebow falters elsewhere and Manning brings the Broncos even close to a Super Bowl, years from now, people will applaud Elway for his decision to rid of Tebow at the perfect opportunity.

However, if Manning falters and proves that he is no longer the same quarterback that he was in Indianapolis all of those years, while Tebow thrives in another market (say Jacksonville or Miami), how will the Denver fan base look at Elway, having traded away the most popular player in the NFL after leading the Broncos within a couple of victories of the Super Bowl?

Elway's legacy as a player will always be intact in Denver. Elway's impact in Denver during his playing career just cannot be measured.

But as a front office head? As an executive? To the young generation in Colorado who are (and will be) too young to remember any of Elway's playing career?

This move will define Elway's legacy.