West Notes: Manning, Chancellor, 49ers

Here’s a look at the AFC and NFC West..

• Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning said on ESPN that he hopes to play next season, as Troy Renck of The Denver Post tweets. “I am really enjoying myself.. I feel good and feel I can help and contribute,” Manning said. Manning, 39, had another excellent season for the Broncos in 2014, putting up 4,727 passing yards to go along with 39 touchdown passes. However, he was hampered by injuries late in the season and struggled down the stretch, particularly in the team’s divisional playoff loss to the Colts, in which he totaled just 211 passing yards on 46 attempts.
• Both the Seahawks and Kam Chancellor need to find a way to save face, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, and he doesn’t think that it will be hard to do. Chancellor is due to make $4.55MM this year, $5.1MM in 2016, and $6.8MM in 2017, so Florio suggests that the Seahawks could take $1MM from next year and $1MM from 2017 and move it to 2015. Alternatively, the Seahawks could give Chancellor more guaranteed cash in 2016 and/or 2017. At some point, Seattle should stop reworking deals, but Florio doesn’t think that this is the place to draw the line given Chancellor’s importance in the locker room.
• Niners head coach Jim Tomsula said the decision to waive defensive lineman Lawrence Okoye during the first round of cuts to 75 players was made to give him the best opportunity to land with another team this season, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes. “Just to be frank, Lawrence hasn’t played a lot of football,” Tomsula said. “So for somebody to give him an opportunity in fairness to him, they’re going to want to (see him before the cut to 53 players). So, when you have a guy in that situation, was my thought, that it gives him a better opportunity … What he’s done in three years or two-and-a-half years is remarkable.”