Peyton Manning: Injury Saga Sign That End Is Near for Colts QB

Peyton Manning IS the Indianapolis Colts. He is the reason that the franchise is still in Indianapolis and will have a new stadium built. But the news coming out of Colts camp this offseason signals that the end may be approaching for the man who saved football in Indiana.

Colts owner Jim Irsay sent a tweet early Wednesday morning saying that the team signed recently retired quarterback Kerry Collins to join the team in time for the start of the regular season.

After Irsay sent his tweet, ESPN NFL analyst Adam Schefter sent his own tweet in which his colleague, Chris Mortensen, reported that there is genuine concern among Colts brass that Manning will not be ready for the regular season opener on September 11 against Houston.

Manning is not a young man anymore. He is a 35-year-old quarterback who has taken his share of hits—though not as many as most quarterbacks because he is not afraid to take a dive before getting hit hard—and at some point his body will break down.

This is the second-straight offseason that Manning has had neck surgery and been unable to participate in any preseason games. As far as we know, he has not been able to throw a ball this entire offseason. If that’s the case, what kind of shape is he going to be in when the season starts?

It’s no secret that Manning struggled at times last season. Obviously, some of those struggles can be attributed to everyone on the team being hurt and an offensive line that gave him no time to throw. But his decision making started to show cracks.

The one thing Manning does better than any quarterback in football is throw the ball away when there is nothing there for him to do. But last year, there were a number of times when he tried to force the ball into coverage and it backfired on him.

The neck injury, combined with deteriorating skills, makes Manning a ticking time bomb. He will play at some point this year, and he will be great a lot more than he will be awful, but the bad times are going to be more prevalent than they have ever been.

Phillip Watson of the Indianapolis Star wrote that Colts fans should be nervous about the fate of their star quarterback.

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The Colts’ signing of QB Kerry Collins will undoubtedly make a lot of fans worry. And rightfully so. I had said for the past few weeks that until the Colts signed a veteran QB, don’t worry.

Just shows, once again, how smart the blogger can be.

I have several theories on today’s latest development. Because of how this came down, and the fact we don’t get to hear a word from any of the key people (especially Manning who is only giving statements about Tennessee coach Pat Summitt), well, we in the media are left to guess.

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Plus, the fact that the Colts gave Manning a five-year contract extension knowing that he was coming off a second neck surgery in two years was a mistake on their part. I understand why they did it. You have to appease the fans and let them see that this guy is going to be a part of this franchise until he retires.

But why did they have to get a deal done so quickly?

The team knew that Manning was injured, had him under contract for this season because of the franchise tag and saw that he struggled last season.

Manning will be the highest paid player in the NFL for the next three years, with a salary of $23 million. That means at age 37 he will be among the highest paid athletes in all of sports. The contract looks like a mistake right now because the team has no idea what is going to happen with Manning.

Yes, there were salary-cap reasons for paying him that kind of money in his new contract. But if this team really wanted to get under the cap, they could have found different ways to do it. They could have restructured some other contracts on the roster or released players that were not performing up to expectations.

If he comes back and is the same player he was before, the deal is worth it. If this neck injury inhibits the way he throws or affects his mobility in the pocket, the deal will look like an albatross.

Manning is an icon and one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. His performance on and off the field is the biggest reason that the Colts are one of the most valuable franchises in sports.

But they are paying based on past performance instead of viewing the signs that are right in front them. When teams start doing that, they get into trouble. Manning needs to be the rock under center that he used to be for this contract to work out, not the fragile mid-30s player that he appears to be now.