How Realistic Is a Colts Roster Featuring Both Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck?

The 0-12 Indianapolis Colts have a decision to make. They can either keep Peyton Manning and try to win another championship by building around him, or they can dump him and draft Andrew Luck. The simple fact is, they can't have both players.

This offseason the Colts have to re-sign Reggie Wayne, Jeff Saturday and Robert Mathis. With Manning due to chew up a huge portion of the cap and Luck's rookie deal also on the books, they would be spending roughly $35 million on the quarterback position alone. That's absurd and it would hinder any plans the franchise has for a rebuilding project.

Clearly, the Colts need more than a quarterback if they want to become a winner again, and they simply can't afford to have both guys on their roster next season.

After the 2012 season, if they decided to cut or trade Manning, the Colts would take a $28.8 million cap hit. If they kept him through 2013 then cut or traded him, they would take a hit of $19.2 million. On top of that they'd still be paying Luck. 

I'm sorry, but that is just a horrible allocation of resources and it would be absurd team management. 

The Colts can have it one way or the other. Either cut Manning loose before his $28 million option bonus kicks in and draft Luck, or keep Manning and trade the No. 1 pick in April's draft for a king's ransom of picks and players and rebuild around your franchise cornerstone.

Trying to have both players and benching Luck behind Manning for a year or two while the team disintegrates around the both of them would be ludicrous. Difficult as it may be, Indianapolis simply has to make a choice.