In a press conference today, Broncos general manager John Elway insisted that there’s no timetable for Peyton Manning‘s retirement decision, and that the team intends to give him all the time he needs. However, that’s probably not exactly the case, writes Mike Klis of 9NEWS.
As Klis outlines, Manning’s 2016 base salary of $19MM becomes fully guaranteed on March 9th, so the Broncos will need a decision from their quarterback sometime within the next month. Having been unwilling to pay Manning a fully guaranteed $19MM salary a year ago, when he was coming off a solid season, the Broncos certainly won’t want to lock that amount in for 2016, so if Manning still hasn’t made a decision by then, the team would likely have to cut him. Of course, it’s hard to imagine the 39-year-old taking that long to decide on his future.
Here’s more on the Super Bowl champs:
- Elway said today that Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan, two key free-agents-to-be, will be priorities this offseason, adding that he plans to start talking to their representatives right away (Twitter link via Lindsay Jones of USA Today). However, the GM did acknowledge that “it’s a fluid situation and our budget is only so big” (Twitter link via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post).
- The Broncos’ top priority this offseason figures to be retaining Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, and Elways said today that “the goal is always to get a long-term deal” (Twitter link via Jhabvala). Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap goes in-depth to explore what a long-term extension for Miller might look like.
- Meanwhile, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com says (via Twitter) that Denver should consider the exclusive franchise tag for Miller. Teams generally use the non-exclusive tag to franchise players, but that leaves the door open for another club to sign the player to an offer sheet. For most players, that risk isn’t significant, since a rival team would have to give up two first-round picks in addition to the big-money offer sheet, but an elite pass rusher like Miller might be worth it.
- A source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the NFL will consider suspending Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib for his dangerous – and intentional – face-mask penalty in the Super Bowl.
Is manning worth 19mil next year? I know they won the SB but it wasn’t because he had a great game. If he takes 19 and Osweiler gets a Matt Flynn like offer how much room is left for Miller and others?
NFL contracts and the cap are generally malleable enough that if a team wants to make something work in the short term, they can. But I don’t think there’s any way the Broncos plan on bringing Manning back at anything close to $19MM if he wants to keep playing. Retaining guys like Miller and potentially Jackson and Trevathan probably hinges on paying Osweiler about half of what Manning would make.
Either Manning retires or Denver cuts him. I think Peyton will ride off in the sunset. Broncos hoping the same.
I have a question so a team would have to give up 2 1st round picks to sign Miller even though the patriots don’t have the cap space or need if they were to sign them they would only be giving up the 2017,2018 1st round picks right?
Yeah, I believe for most teams it would be 2016 and 2017, but since the Pats don’t have a first-rounder this year, makes sense that it would be for the following two years.
I have a hard time thinking they’ll be able to retain Malik Jackson. He will command a bigger contract than the $36.7MM/four-year deal Derek Wolfe signed, and the Broncos’ having two players who could well sign for more annually will make paying him that next to impossible without releasing key players. Of course, if they’re all in on keeping their entire defense, Ryan Clady looms as a possible cut, even if the Broncos’ offensive line needs a talent infusion much more than its defense does.