Peyton Manning: Why Releasing Manning Is Necesary for the Colts Future Success

The Colts, as we know them currently, have run their course.  Like all great teams, they have begun to show their age and no longer win. It happened to the Steelers after their great run in the 70s, happened to the Packers of the 60s and the Cowboys of the 90s. 

Currently, their star quarterback has been cursed by a nagging neck injury and has not seen the field since his latest surgery.  Currently, the Colts need to rebuild their team, and it's the perfect time with their abysmal record.

Peyton Manning’s contribution to the Colts cannot be understated. Until Manning arrived, the Colts were the perennial laughing stock of the league and rarely went to the playoffs since their infamous “midnight run” from Baltimore.  However, keeping Manning is only going to prevent the club from rebuilding.  

One potential reason why they shouldn’t keep Manning is purely financial; I don’t think that they want to pay out his massive new contract because of him not playing due to his debilitating neck injury.  The Colts would be better served in saving that cap space to get new players and be able to fully rebuild the team. Manning is simply not helping the team by being on the sidelines. 

In order for a team to properly rebuild, the entire team needs to be rebuilt (at least for the most part).  Manning is only one of a group of very great, but aging Colts who are no longer as good as they once were five to six years ago. There's always risk in rebuilding the team, especially if they miss at the quarterback position.  In fact, it could be argued that if JaMarcus Russell had panned out to be anywhere near a decent quarterback, I think the Raiders would probably be a Super Bowl contender. 

For the sake of argument, the Colts draft Andrew Luck as quarterback.  As we all know, Luck is not the same style of quarterback as Manning.  That would entail that the entire offense would need to be revamped to suit Luck’s style.  For example, the Colts are going to have to get a better power-running game to complement Luck.  This is especially important since it would be a rookie quarterback.  Keeping Manning would simply hamper the progress of the Colts in moving in a new direction.

The Baltimore Colts faced a similar situation in the early 70s with an aging Johnny Unitas (arguably the greatest quarterback of all time).  The entire team was old. The Colts chose to trade him to San Diego.  They were able to bring in Bert Jones and built a new Colts team that was a competitor in the 70s. 

Manning has accomplished nearly everything there is to accomplish for an NFL quarterback.  He has broken several records, has led the Colts to the most regular season wins in NFL history during a 10-year span and won the team’s first Super Bowl since the 1970-1971 team.  He's already a guaranteed Hall of Famer, but now is the time to move on and rebuild the Colts into competitors for the next decade. 

At best, if Manning returns, the Colts will simply slow down the inevitable march towards mediocrity.  At worst, if the Colts release Peyton Manning and Luck doesn’t pan out, they will suffer terribly for a number of years. At best, they can quickly reclaim their claim as top dog in the AFC south. 

Much like the Bulls at the end of the 90s, this team has run its course.