Manning / Luck...what do you do?

[dickay]

It's never too early to start this conversation. How would you handle the situation?

[President]

It's never too early to start this conversation. How would you handle the situation?

You keep both.

[ragecage]

With a player like this who basically coaches, scouts, and GM's pretty much agree this kid is special, I would have no problem drafting him and trading Manning away. Another thing to consider is that if you keep Manning, you have to give him a roster bonus of 28 million if you still have him by March.

Another reason to trade Manning, is you see a lot of QB's come in and have success, and I don't have much doubt Luck would be the same as Dalton in the weak AFC south.

[President]

With a player like this who basically coaches, scouts, and GM's pretty much agree this kid is special, I would have no problem drafting him and trading Manning away. Another thing to consider is that if you keep Manning, you have to give him a roster bonus of 28 million if you still have him by March.

Another reason to trade Manning, is you see a lot of QB's come in and have success, and I don't have much doubt Luck would be the same as Dalton in the weak AFC south.

Manning's probably going to restructure his deal to pay the bonus later/make it less. You are not going to get good value from Manning, and you risk losing revenue from fans since you're trading away the best Colt ever.

A lot of QBs do have success coming in but not a lot of them improve/go into "Championship QB" level. Stafford, Ryan, Newton, Dalton, Sanchez etc...all QBs with success but none of them are even close to Brees/Brady/Manning/Rodgers etc level sans maybe Newton. You can still win a championship with Manning now. Have him mentor Luck for two-three years like Rodgers/Favre Montana/Young and be set for the next 10-15 years.

Besides, I wouldn't trust the Colts coaching staff to develop Luck well, especially with them probably cleaning house (they started with the GM already).

[ragecage]

Manning's probably going to restructure his deal to pay the bonus later/make it less. You are not going to get good value from Manning, and you risk losing revenue from fans since you're trading away the best Colt ever.

As is right now, he's going to be due that 28 million and right now, I wouldn't pay for it for anyone who has had 3 neck surgeries. With the NFL, they will have no issue filling seats to see Andrew Luck.

A lot of QBs do have success coming in but not a lot of them improve/go into "Championship QB" level. Stafford, Ryan, Newton, Dalton, Sanchez etc...all QBs with success but none of them are even close to Brees/Brady/Manning/Rodgers etc level sans maybe Newton. You can still win a championship with Manning now. Have him mentor Luck for two-three years like Rodgers/Favre Montana/Young and be set for the next 10-15 years.

You're assuming Manning will be his old self. He has been out of the league going on well over a year by next pre-season. We don't even know if he will be the same player. I don't believe Luck needs to be mentored for 3 years. Stanford educated, I think he will transition smoothly to the NFL and you don't need the burden of a costly contract Peyton has in a salary cap league.

Besides, I wouldn't trust the Colts coaching staff to develop Luck well, especially with them probably cleaning house (they started with the GM already).

We don't even know who they are going to hire to make that assumption. Oh and you forget, they can probably get a top name coach just the fact alone Andrew Luck will be your QB.

[President]

As is right now, he's going to be due that 28 million and right now, I wouldn't pay for it for anyone who has had 3 neck surgeries. With the NFL, they will have no issue filling seats to see Andrew Luck.



You're assuming Manning will be his old self. He has been out of the league going on well over a year by next pre-season. We don't even know if he will be the same player. I don't believe Luck needs to be mentored for 3 years. Stanford educated, I think he will transition smoothly to the NFL and you don't need the burden of a costly contract Peyton has in a salary cap league.



We don't even know who they are going to hire to make that assumption. Oh and you forget, they can probably get a top name coach just the fact alone Andrew Luck will be your QB.

Peyton is one of those players who will likely be the same, so I don't worry even if he had the 3 neck surgeries. Peyton is 35 right now, I'm hoping he plays at most 3 more years to mentor Luck. You're assuming Peyton's contract will remain the same, while I'm assuming he's going to restructure it.

I don't think Luck is going to transition well into the NFL, or at least not as good as being mentored by Peyton. Luck, although he is a big name, is not enough to replace revenue generated by Peyton, especially if Peyton comes back. I don't see why having Luck as a QB will draw a good HC, especially in a weak market where the only coach who is seemingly out there is Fisher, since Gruden et all declined. And everyone else is going to chase after Fisher. I really do think it's better to keep Manning, even with the salary hit which I do think will be a lot less.

Maybe it's my bias of Peyton being one of the GOATs and should remain a Colt forever, but I think Luck and the Colts will benefit having Peyton for at least one more year

[Jayeburgh]

I love Peyton Manning. He is first ballot HoF. Though, his age, the injury, the cost of having him (even if he restructures) it's not worth it in the long run.

This is the perfect time for the Colts to gut the system and rebuild.

Draft Luck. Trade Manning and get more draft picks.

Should be able to lure in a top name coach in this situation.

[haveacigar]

Trade them both, trade for Matt Flynn and start him instead.

[etothep]

Manning's probably going to restructure his deal to pay the bonus later/make it less. You are not going to get good value from Manning, and you risk losing revenue from fans since you're trading away the best Colt ever.

A lot of QBs do have success coming in but not a lot of them improve/go into "Championship QB" level. Stafford, Ryan, Newton, Dalton, Sanchez etc...all QBs with success but none of them are even close to Brees/Brady/Manning/Rodgers etc level sans maybe Newton. You can still win a championship with Manning now. Have him mentor Luck for two-three years like Rodgers/Favre Montana/Young and be set for the next 10-15 years.

Besides, I wouldn't trust the Colts coaching staff to develop Luck well, especially with them probably cleaning house (they started with the GM already).

Only way he restructures his deal in any way is if a no-trade clause is added to his deal (as if he restructures his current deal, it only hurts him as it either lowers his guaranteed $ or makes him easier to trade or likely both)

[Rexington]

If Manning wont restructure then trade him. If he is willing to then I think the Colts keep for a year and re-evalute. It will only help Luck in the long run. If they get rid of Manning and he tears up the league then the Colts fans will be PISSED. I think Manning has a higher performance ceiling than Luck this year. If the Colts trade him and Luck gets hurt early on then the fans will be PISSED. If you keep Manning for this year and he gets hurt, then the Colts get lucky. I think the salary cap hit, even restructured, will be worth it for a year.

[OregonDuck1989]

Honestly, keep the dude for at least a year. I think Luck could contribute right away as I think he's a Matt Ryan-esque QB. But I think anyone could benefit behind Peyton Manning....except Tebow. Cause he's already the best.

[ragecage]

I don't think it's wrong to keep Manning, as you can see the team has many issues without him so trade him and get some draft picks and rebuild.

This firestorm that will be created by him being traded I think will never happen. People said the same thing about Joe Montana and look how that worked out for San Francisco. If Peyton was 32, that would be one thing, but he will be 36 next year.

[dickay]

Peyton is one of those players who will likely be the same, so I don't worry even if he had the 3 neck surgeries. Peyton is 35 right now, I'm hoping he plays at most 3 more years to mentor Luck. You're assuming Peyton's contract will remain the same, while I'm assuming he's going to restructure it.

I don't think Luck is going to transition well into the NFL, or at least not as good as being mentored by Peyton. Luck, although he is a big name, is not enough to replace revenue generated by Peyton, especially if Peyton comes back. I don't see why having Luck as a QB will draw a good HC, especially in a weak market where the only coach who is seemingly out there is Fisher, since Gruden et all declined. And everyone else is going to chase after Fisher. I really do think it's better to keep Manning, even with the salary hit which I do think will be a lot less.

Maybe it's my bias of Peyton being one of the GOATs and should remain a Colt forever, but I think Luck and the Colts will benefit having Peyton for at least one more year

Just reading this..i think Rage brings up more valid pts and this does sound like fanboy stuff. Not trying to insult you...its just that in no world will Peyton sell more jerseys/merchandise than Luck next year. Largely because many have Manning stuff already and the new stud on the block is always the most popular. It won't be close in fact...Luck will run away with it IMHO. In addition, every article i've read on luck from "experts" over the past two years (he was thought to be going pro last year) is that Luck should transition well to the NFL game given his background, skill set and Stamfords offense. You saying he won't transition well is so far out of the box that it too just seems like a convenient way to reinforce your fanboy position.

Finally....if you don't think head coaches would be drooling to take over the Colts with Luck you're crazy. A team coming off a 2-win season getting the highest rated NFL QB to come out of college since Elway/Manning??? Only winning 2 games last year and with a rookie QB the coach would have plenty of leeway to build the team over the next few years and would not be expected to win immediately. This is the situation coaches dream of....a chance to build a system from the ground up with a young franchise QB and time.

From someone on the outside looking in....rage's arguments seem much more plausible.

[dickay]

If Manning wont restructure then trade him. If he is willing to then I think the Colts keep for a year and re-evalute. It will only help Luck in the long run. If they get rid of Manning and he tears up the league then the Colts fans will be PISSED. I think Manning has a higher performance ceiling than Luck this year. If the Colts trade him and Luck gets hurt early on then the fans will be PISSED. If you keep Manning for this year and he gets hurt, then the Colts get lucky. I think the salary cap hit, even restructured, will be worth it for a year.

this makes alot of sense in that i'd rather deal Manning a year after he proves he's OK health wise....though on the flip side, what if he struggles on a bad bad team? Then his value actually will drop. Lets say you restructure, this is how i see it;

1. You push back the cap hit to years when Manning is not with the team hurting the team for future years
2. Even if he has an OK year, he'll be 36/37? I don't think his stock will climb much higher than it currently is even with the injury.
3. If he struggles, his stock drops significantly.

as it is right now, the Colts should easily be able to land a #1 for manning even with the injury. Heck the Eagles got a very good CB and a 2nd for Kolb for crying out loud. At worst the Colts should do significantly better than that for Manning. The raiders gave up two #1s for Palmer. Point is, there's many playoff contending teams that would be in the market for Mannings services and would pay alot. I'd call Dan Snyder first and foremost though

Anyway I'm leaning towards trading him as the pros outweigh the cons. You aren't going to get much more for Manning that you can get now, you don't hamper your team with future cap issues, and you don't have the drama...but you do have what you acquired for Manning, which should be significant, to start your rebuilding.

Mannings been great for Indy..its time they turn the page. They will send him out in class and the fans will understand why it had to be done.

[MichelleWie]

I just don't see them drafting Luck and sitting him on the bench for a year or more. If you draft Luck I think you have to start him. Manning's 28 million plus whatever salary Luck would draw as the #1 overall pick would be alot of money spent on one position. We'll get the first clue when we see what happens to Caldwell. If he's fired I think it's a good indication Peyton won't be back. I don't think there will be much firestorm from the fans, either. This isn't Favre/Rodgers situation. The fans/team already have had a year to get used to no Peyton. I think the bigger question for other team GM's is what would you rather do. Trade for Peyton or sign Flynn?