Fantasy Football: Peyton Manning, DeMarco Murray and Nick Foles' Offseasons

Fantasy football owners should not just ignore the NFL for the next several months while they gear up for their fantasy baseball drafts and run their fantasy hockey and basketball teams.

Fantasy owners have to keep close tabs on free-agent signings, the NFL draft, coaching changes, trades and retirements. These will all have significant impacts on how certain players will perform in 2015 and how fantasy owners rank players on their cheat sheets heading into their fantasy drafts.

If you own Denver’s Peyton Manning, Dallas’ DeMarco Murray and/or Philadelphia’s Nick Foles in any fantasy league, but especially dynasty or keeper leagues, you have to be aware of what transpires for each of them during this interesting offseason.

So here are the outlooks for Manning, Murray and Foles this upcoming offseason, why fantasy owners should watch with closely and my predictions on what happens for each player in the end.

Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos (QB)

Fantasy owners were burned by Manning so badly at the end of this past season that they may want No. 18 to retire and spend all his time making more commercials.

Take it from yours truly. My fantasy team started out 8-1 when Manning was racking up 300-yard, three-TD games on a weekly basis. Then my team lost five straight games and went from first place to not even making the playoffs due to Manning’s numbers dropping to Alex Smith levels thanks to Manning’s injured quad and Denver’s infatuation of handing the ball to C.J. Anderson 30 times per game.

The biggest offseason storyline in the NFL will be whether or not Manning will retire or return. His decision could depend on his health, Denver’s coaching situation and how many pass-catchers with the last name Thomas are re-signed.

If Manning returns, he will again be a top-four fantasy quarterback and drafted within the first 15 picks in most fantasy leagues. Do not blame his second-half swoon on Father Time sounding his alarm clock. Manning was one of the most productive players in fantasy football during the first couple of months of the season. The guy did not suddenly grow old in December.

Manning is the centerpiece of many teams in dynasty and keeper leagues. If he calls it a career, fantasy football owners will be in the same jam the Broncos will be in if Manning stops playing.

You cannot just replace Manning on a fantasy squad in a dynasty league. You either have to settle for a less productive option, or you have to trade a prime player at another position like running back or receiver to acquire another elite fantasy QB.

Even Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas owners have to keep an eye on the Rocky Mountain soap opera. Both Thomases became fantasy forces thanks to Manning’s pinpoint passes. If Manning retires, it will likely result in hits to both of their fantasy values, whether they stay in Denver and catch throws from a new quarterback or sign elsewhere and run routes for quarterbacks not as talented as Manning.

Manning will not just be the No. 1 story in the NFL this offseason, he will be the No. 1 story in fantasy football as well.

Prediction: Manning returns because he believes the terrible end of the season was all about his quad injury and not because he is an aging has-been. Denver hires a new head coach that Manning likes, and the Broncos keep most of his weapons intact so Manning can have one last fantasy hurrah in 2015.

DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys (RB)

Murray is coming off a career year where he had the NFL rushing title wrapped up by Week 10. He topped second-place rusher Le’Veon Bell by almost 500 yards and was arguably the most valuable player in fantasy football.

Murray did not win the rushing title in a landslide just because of his quick feet and shifty moves, though. He was handed the ball an astounding 80 more times than the next closest guy in the rushing attempts race. Tennessee’s Bishop Sankey would have won the rushing title if he had 392 carries too!

Murray also had the double luxury of running behind the best offensive line in football and having a passing attack led by Tony Romo and Dez Bryant that kept defenses from continually crowding the box. Talk about Heaven for a running back!

Yet Murray is carrying more baggage with him than a woman who is going to Hawaii for a week. Entering the 2014 season, he was known more for his injury history than his Pro Bowl history.

Murray missed 11 games over his first three seasons and was perpetually banged up. And while he averaged over five yards per carry, scored some touchdowns and was helpful in the passing game, he was never thought of as a premier running back by the NFL or the fantasy football community.

Dallas is annually in salary-cap hell, and this offseason is no different. The Cowboys have to pay big bucks to keep Murray and Bryant, as both are free agents. The chances that Dallas keeps both of them very slim.

If Murray re-signs with Dallas, he goes into the 2015 season as one of the top-five players in fantasy football, a surefire first-round pick in all fantasy formats. If Murray signs elsewhere, all bets are off. His value would depend on the team he picks, how often he is used, how good his offensive line is and ultimately how healthy he stays.

Prediction: Dallas coughs up money for Bryant but not enough for Murray’s liking, so Murray takes his talents to Atlanta for a multimillion dollar deal with the pass-first Falcons.

Eight games into the season, the combination of Atlanta’s leaky line and the Georgia Dome’s tough turf injure Murray and knock him out for the year. Meanwhile, Jerry Jones smiles in Dallas with C.J. Spiller as his top tailback.

Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles (QB)

Foles went from a phenom with a 27-to-two touchdown-to-interception ratio to a quarterback who was on par with Mark Sanchez faster than Marshawn Lynch shuts up during an interview.

So does Philadelphia and head coach Chip Kelly bring Foles back and hope they get the standout 2013 Foles and not the mediocre 2014 version? Or does Foles play the role of backup after the Eagles trade all of their draft picks and 1,000 cheese steaks to move up in the first round and draft Marcus Mariota?

If Foles stays in Philly, he would enter 2015 as a top-15 fantasy quarterback with an upside that could get him into the top 10. The Eagles uptempo offense makes quarterbacks fantasy forces no matter how average their skill sets might be. Sanchez is a perfect example.

But if Foles is a backup or is traded to an offensively challenged team with a more traditional and/or conservative offense, his fantasy stock will plummet. It will be an interesting offseason for Foles owners in dynasty leagues.

Prediction: Because of the lack of other options available (Jay Cutler? Brian Hoyer?) and because they do not want to sacrifice all of their draft choices for Mariota, Kelly and the Eagles decide to stick with Foles as the starter for one more season, and Foles responds with 4,150 passing yards and 28 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.