Peyton Manning Injury: Encouraging X-Rays Make Colts' Draft Decision Tougher

Peyton Manning got some encouraging news about the injury that has kept him out of the 2011 NFL season, and it makes the Indianapolis Colts' draft decisions for next year immensely tougher.

ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted two bits of information Thursday about Manning getting positive news about his recovery via x-ray and CT scan.

The Colts are a terrible team without Manning and are the league's only winless team at 0-11. They will likely have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is the prize.

The first overall pick will almost certainly be Andrew Luck, and he will be selected by a team who has the top pick or trades for it.

With the positive news of Manning's recovery from offseason neck surgery, the Colts must now choose if passing on Luck and continuing with Manning is a smart idea going forward.

Manning is 35 years old and is coming off a major recovery from a neck injury. He likely does not have a ton of elite seasons left.

It makes sense to move Manning in a trade and get some value, but that will be difficult for two reasons.

For one, Manning has a ton of money left on his new contract, and few teams will want to acquire an aging quarterback who is owed millions of dollars and coming off an injury.

Teams will probably not give up a ton of young talent for Manning either, who could devastate a team's future if he's traded then gets hurt again.

Andrew Luck is a very talented quarterback, and all indications are he will be an NFL star. However, the Colts cannot just ship out Manning in order to have a young quarterback take over the team for the future.

They have several interesting options to consider if they get the No. 1 pick, and it won't be an easy decision process, especially with Manning's recovery going well.