Peyton Manning - Pro Football Rumors

Broncos Hire Gary Kubiak As Head Coach

January 19th, 2015 at 9:53am CST by Rob DiRe

MONDAY, 9:53am: The Broncos have officially announced that they have agreed to terms with Kubiak, according to the team’s official Twitter account. Kubiak will become the 15th head coach in team history.

SUNDAY, 8:17pm: The Broncos have seemingly concluded their head coaching search, as they are currently in the process of negotiating a four-year contract with Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak to coach the team, reports Mike Klis of the Denver Post.

Kubiak is expected to be introduced as early as Tuesday, according to Klis. He is likely to bring Ravens quarterbacks coach Rick Dennison along with him to serve as his offensive coordinator, reports Albert Breer of NFL.com (via Twitter). Kubiak could also bring tight ends coach Brian Pariani, writes Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).

Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com doesn’t believe that it is a lock for either Dennison or Pariani to head to Denver, and writes that either one could be a candidate to take over as the Ravens offensive coordinator (via Twitter). Former Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase could also be an option in Baltimore, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).

Breer also notes that Kubiak figures to target Bengals secondary coach Vance Joseph (via Twitter).

Before the Broncos job opened up, Kubiak announced that he was not interested in pursuing head coaching opportunities, electing instead to remain with the Ravens as the offensive coordinator. However, things changed when the Broncos and John Fox parted ways, prompting Kubiak to change his mind and make himself available to interview in Denver.

Kubiak has a long history with the Broncos, playing for the team for nine seasons as a backup to Hall of Fame quarterback and current general manager of the Broncos John Elway, and losing three Super Bowls as a player. He returned to Denver as a quarterbacks coach for the 49ers, where he won his first Super Bowl as a coach. Kubiak later became the offensive coordinator for the Broncos under head coach Mike Shanahan, coaching Elway to two Super Bowl victories.

As Kubiak became a clear frontrunner for the job, it was reported that he would accept the position should the Broncos offer it to him.

The Ravens have now lost their offensive coordinator in Kubiak, who lead the team to a record-setting year for the franchise. The team will now look to hire its fourth offensive coordinator in as many seasons, writes Zrebiec (via Twitter).

This also further complicates the issue of whether or not Peyton Manning will return to the Broncos in 2015. Kubiak is a widely regarded offensive mind, and three years ago when Manning was a free agent he was reportedly interested in teaming up with Kubiak and signing with the Texans. The rumor is that Kubiak did not pursue the idea of signing Manning, instead preferring to continue working with Matt Schaub, writes Pro Football Talk (via Twitter).

Kubiak’s attitude towards coaching Manning would likely had to have changed if the team plans on bringing Manning back. Otherwise, Kubiak will be starting from scratch at the quarterback position, possibly with former second-round pick Brock Osweiler.

West Notes: Manning, Trestman, Lynch

January 18th, 2015 at 10:18am CST by Rory Parks

We heard earlier this morning that current Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak will accept the Broncos‘ head coaching job if and when it is offered to him, and there are a number of items related to the Broncos’ head coaching search to pass on, along with several notes from other clubs in the league’s west divisions. Let’s take a look:

Citing colleague Ian Rapoport, NFL.com’s Conor Orr writes that Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is still undecided about his future, and even though many believe his return to Denver is a foregone conclusion, Rapoport wonders if Denver’s recent activity has laid the foundation for the team to hit the reset button. After all, as Orr writes, “John Elway was concerned about the team’s toughness after a loss to St. Louis earlier in the season and wondered if his team had gotten as good as they possibly could with the current staff and roster.” Manning still has a month to make up his mind before taking a physical that will lock in his $19MM salary for next year.
Benjamin Hochman and Mike Klis of the Denver Post wonder if the Broncos would be better off if Manning were to hang up the spikes right now (spoiler alert: the answer is “no”).
Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com asked former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer how Kubiak and Manning will overcome the conflicts between Manning’s abilities and Kubiak’s style of play-calling, and Plummer describes how the two men could make it work.
Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com looks at a few standouts from yesterday’s East-West Shrine Classic that could be of interest to the Chargers.
Citing Rapoport, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk writes that the Raiders, as expected, will interview Marc Trestman for their offensive coordinator vacancy within the next several days.
Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times believes the Seahawks should retain Marshawn Lynch for at least one more season.
Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes that former Youngstown State head coach Eric Wolford is set to become the 49ers‘ assistant offensive line coach.

Broncos Notes: Manning, Elway, Fox

January 13th, 2015 at 5:49pm CST by Zachary Links

What a difference a few days can make. The Broncos, who were viewed as one of the elite teams in the NFL, are in a state of flux. After being bounced by the Colts, coach John Fox is out and Peyton Manning sounds non-committal about returning to Denver next season. Meanwhile, the Broncos are having some reservations about No. 18 as well, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). The Broncos are worried about Manning’s quadriceps and, perhaps more importantly, his declining arm strength. Manning is owed $19MM for 2015 and some in the organization are wondering if that price tag is worth it for them. More out of Denver..

Broncos executive vice president and GM John Elway said that Jack Del Rio and Adam Gase are both candidates for the head coaching vacancy, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post (on Twitter). However, no interviews are scheduled just yet.
Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is a popular man. The Broncos have now requested permission to interview him for their head coaching vacancy, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
Elway’s comments made it clear that he has faith in Manning, Renck tweets. He wants him back, wants him involved in the process to get back to contention, and believes that he can play another year in the NFL.
However, Elway went on to say that Manning will take the next four to five weeks to think about what he wants to do next, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports (on Twitter).
When asked about his friction with Fox, Elway said, “We disagreed on how to get to the next level,” according to Pelissero (via Twitter).

Broncos Notes: Manning, Shanahan, Gase

January 13th, 2015 at 10:29am CST by Luke Adams

Peyton Manning is under contract through 2016, but coming off a quad injury and a disappointing divisional playoff loss to the Colts, the Broncos signal-caller has yet to commit to playing another season. As Field Yates of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece, Manning’s decision will be one of the biggest stories to watch this offseason, since his retirement would signal wholesale changes in Denver, not just on the coaching staff but at the most important position on the roster as well.

Here’s more on Manning and the Broncos:

According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link), Manning’s decision will come down to returning to the Broncos or retiring — he won’t play for another team. However, that didn’t stop Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk from identifying eight potential suitors for Manning, if the future Hall-of-Famer decides he doesn’t want to play in Denver.
Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) hears that there’s some mutual interest between the Broncos and Mike Shanahan, who has kept in touch with GM John Elway recently. Cole also notes that when he mentioned Shanahan as a head coaching candidate to Manning, the quarterback’s interest seemed “piqued” by the idea.
While Adam Gase is meeting with the 49ers today, Elway plans to speak to the Broncos offensive coordinator afterward, per Jeff Darlington of NFL.com (Twitter links). A source tells Darlington that the Broncos are confident they’ll get a chance to make a pitch to Gase, but the team doesn’t have a sense of which way he’s leaning at this point. While Darlington doesn’t explicitly say it, the implication here is that Denver is interested in Gase as a head coaching option.

AFC West Notes: Manning, Raiders, Del Rio

January 12th, 2015 at 11:19am CST by Zachary Links

This might help to explain things. Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning played in Sunday’s loss and the past month of the season with a torn right quad, two sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The tear, which was first suffered during Denver’s December 14th win over the Chargers, was confirmed by an MRI (link).

A team source tells Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post that Manning played with a strained quad, not a full tear.
Now that the Denver’s season is over, the Raiders are expected to try to meet again with Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio for a second interview, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Oakland inquired about interviewing him last week, only to be told that the rules wouldn’t allow for it (link).
Manning is due $19MM next year, which would be tough for any player to pass up, writes Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. And, as much as he struggled Sunday and showed cracks throughout the second half of the season, Manning still finished second in the NFL in touchdowns.
The plain and harsh truth is that Manning is done, writes Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post. Manning could return for 2015 to take another crack at winning it all with the Broncos, Kiszla writes, but it would be a fool’s errand.
There could be a number of roster changes in store for the Broncos, as Mike Klis and Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post write. “That’s one of the toughest parts of this,” defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “Right now, if I knew I had another year under my belt, I would be thinking revenge already. But I don’t know how things are going to work. I hope to be here for the rest of my career, but I know how the business part affects things.”

Broncos Notes: Manning, Fox, Talib

January 11th, 2015 at 9:37pm CST by Rob DiRe

In the wake of the Broncos 24-13 loss to the Colts tonight, questions regarding Peyton Manning‘s future began to surface. Manning himself was non-committal about returning in 2015, according to Burt Hubbuch of the New York Post (via Twitter). “I need to process this game, and we’ll meet tomorrow,” said Manning.

Here are some other rumors after the Broncos elimination:

Manning is set to make $19MM in 2015, and for that reason Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com believes he will be back next year (via Twitter). At the same time, he notes that his colleague Marc Sessler has thought Manning could retire after the season since September.
Manning’s full salary will be guaranteed on the last day of the league year in March, reports Joel Corry of the National Football Post (via Twitter). If he retires, Denver will have a $5MM in dead money on its 2015 cap.
The Broncos will save $16.5MM if they move on from Manning this offseason, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (via Twitter).
Money aside, Aaron Nagler of SI Now wonders if Manning would even want to start over again if head coach John Fox is fired and offensive coordinator Adam Gase finds employment elsewhere this offseason (via Twitter).
Despite those reports that Fox’s job was on the line today, the Broncos head coach was adamant about staying with the team, according to Around the NFL (via Twitter). “My intentions are to be a Denver Bronco,” said Fox.
Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com notes that with the Broncos out of the playoffs, Gase and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio are now available to sign as head coaches elsewhere right away (via Twitter). The Raiders have been interested in Del Rio, and Gase has drawn interest from a number of teams.
As he did upon the Cowboys’ loss to the Packers earlier, Field Yates of ESPN looks into some important offseason decisions facing the Broncos (ESPN Insider Link). Among the most important free agents, Yates writes the team needs to bring back Demaryius Thomas and Terrance Knighton, make a decision on Julius Thomas, and add to their offensive line and linebacking crews.
Corry also notes that the team could move on from oft-injured cornerback Aqib Talib, who has a cap number of $7MM in 2015 (via Twitter). That will leave $4MM in dead money on Denver’s cap sheet.
Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com put together a list of the Broncos free agents heading into this offseason and their current average salaries, and also addresses some salary cap and contract issues that the team will face with or without their quarterback..

AFC West Notes: Alex Smith, Manning, Raiders

December 26th, 2014 at 9:08pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith is expected to be sidelined for approximately six weeks due to a lacerated spleen, the team announced today. The good news is that in addition to not requiring surgery, Smith won’t suffer any long-term effects due to the injury. However, if the Chiefs make the playoffs (they’ll need to win on Sunday, and hope both the Ravens and Texans lose), Smith won’t be healthy enough to play until the Super Bowl, if at all. Backup QB Chase Daniel will take over the signal-calling reins in the meantime; as Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap notes (Twitter link), Daniel and Smith have similar cap figures this season, with Daniel counting $3.4MM to Smith’s $4.6MM. Daniel, 28, signed a three-year, $10MM deal with Kansas City prior to the 2013 season. Here’s more from the AFC West:

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning said that he wants to return in 2015 and, to the surprise of no one, coach John Fox said that he wants Manning back too, as Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com tweets. “I would say…maybe the top [quarterback] of all time, I’d say there’s a pretty good likelihood [that we want him to return],” Fox said.
With Manning in the fold for 2015, Broncos backup Brock Osweiler will probably see his four-year deal expire after next season without getting an opportunity to play a whole lot, writes Mike Klis of The Denver Post. “When I was drafted here, I knew I was brought in to sit on the bench and learn from one of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played this game,” Osweiler said. “I also knew that his contract was one year longer than mine. We understood that.”
Raiders center Stefen Wisniewski, an impending free agent, says the club has made him a few contract offers, but “nothing he was looking for,” according to Josh Dubnow of the Associated Press (via Twitter). The fourth-year offensive lineman is counting just $1.315MM against the cap this season, the final year of his rookie deal. Wisniewski isn’t a star, but he’s a solid player, rating as the 15th-best center in the league per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), so it’s a little surprising that Oakland, who has the most cap 2015 cap space ($51MM)+ of any team, hasn’t made a more serious effort to retain him.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

AFC South Notes: Texans, Johnson, Shorts

December 26th, 2014 at 3:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The Texans have reportedly been pushing for superstar wide receiver Andre Johnson to take a pay cut. Johnson, who is set to make $21.5MM over the next two seasons, was supposedly open to the idea, according to his uncle, Andre Melton.

However, Johnson refuted the idea that he would be willing to take a pay cut to stay with the team, reports Tania Ganguli of ESPN (via Twitter).

“I don’t know where that story came from,” said Johnson. “I didn’t make that statement.”

The receiver said he and his uncle never discussed his willingness to accept a pay cut, according to Ganguli (via Twitter).

Today’s look at the AFC South..

Legend has it that before Peyton Manning signed with the Broncos in March 2012, he told Johnson that he wanted to be a member of the Texans. Johnson wouldn’t confirm the story to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle, but he did imply that it had some merit. “I’ve heard that he wanted to come play here,” Johnson said. “But I never really got the (full story), cause I’ve heard so many different things from different people. So the truth never really came out.” He added: “It wasn’t directly from him. It was from someone close to him.”
If Johnson is willing to take a pay cut, the Texans star should wait for a resolution with Larry Fitzgerald‘s situation before doing anything, opines Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
Cecil Shorts is hopeful he’ll be with the Jaguars in 2015 but realizes this weekend’s season finale could be his last game with the franchise, writes Hays Carlyon of The Florida-Times Union. “It’s been hard for me this season,” Shorts said. “For me, I had to really get into my faith. I couldn’t lean on my own understanding. I didn’t know why things were happening. I didn’t know why I kept getting hurt. So, I had to really get into my Bible, really pray and relax. I had to have peace, so I wouldn’t keep stressing about certain things. I had to stop pressing, relax and play.” The wide receiver has been a leader in the Jacksonville locker room, but injuries have held him back in recent years.
Suspended Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon sold his Jacksonville area house, as Ryan O’Halloran of The Florida Times-Union writes, which could be a sign that he’s not planning on a future with the team. It’s not known when Blackmon might be eligible for reinstatement but he remains under contract with the Jaguars.

Peyton Manning Expects To Play In 2015

December 24th, 2014 at 3:41pm CST by Ben Levine

We’ve heard plenty of rumblings suggesting that Peyton Manning will continue playing next season, and the future Hall of Fame quarterback confirmed as much this afternoon. Speaking at his press conference, Manning said he has every intention of playing in 2015 (via Mike Klis of The Denver Post).

“I certainly plan on being back if the Broncos will have me. At this point I’m thinking about Oakland. I know this is the time when there are conversations about what coaches are going to return. For some reason I guess I get to fall into that category because maybe I’m closer to the same age as some of the coaches. But I have no plans along those lines. I’m enjoying playing and looking forward to Sunday’s game and the game to follow that.”

As Klis points out, the speculation regarding the quarterback’s future is justified. He has two years remaining on the five-year, $96MM contract he signed in 2012, but the next two years aren’t guaranteed. Of course, the non-guaranteed contract would only be important if the Broncos didn’t intend of having Manning back, which doesn’t appear to be the case.

The 38-year-old continues to produce at a high level despite his age. He currently ranks in the top five for most of the major quarterback stats, and he earned his 14th Pro Bowl selection yesterday. However, Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required) suggests that the quarterback is starting to decline. He ranks 13th among qualified quarterbacks, the first time since 2007 that he hasn’t ranked in the top five (excluding the 2011 season).

While Manning is confident he’ll be back, he could return without a couple of key teammates. Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and tight end Julius Thomas are both set to be free agents, but the organization has continually proven that they’ll do whatever it takes to stay competitive while Manning’s on their team.

Latest On Titans Ownership; Manning Interested?

December 14th, 2014 at 4:12pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Following the Bills sale earlier this year, the Titans could be the next team to hit the market, writes Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Bud Adams, who had owned the Houston/Tennessee franchise since 1960, passed away in October, leaving his son-in-law Tommie Smith to serve as majority owner. However, not every member of the family is inclined to retain the club for the long-term, especially after the Buffalo franchise was sold for $1.4 billion. Insiders believe the Titans could be worth as much as $2 billion, and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is being floated as a potential leader of an ownership group.

For that possibility to occur, obviously, Manning would have to retire in the near future — those close to the future Hall of Famer tell La Canfora that there’s been no movement either way regarding his retirement, with one source saying that “I don’t even think [Manning] knows.” Still, the CBS scribe allows that it “wouldn’t be a shock” to see Manning hang it up in 2015, which would pave the way for him to move into an owner/executive career, a path he has long been interested in pursuing.

Indeed, one reason Manning nearly opted to sign with the Titans in 2012 was that he wanted to become involved with the team’s front office structure once his playing days ended — at the time, Manning’s friend (and current Browns owner) Jimmy Haslam was considering purchasing the Tennessee franchise. Manning, a University of Tennessee alum, might still be intrigued by joining the Titans in some manner, and undertaking a post-playing career similar to that of Broncos general manager John Elway.

Manning wouldn’t be the only suitor interested in controlling the Titans, continues La Canfora. FedEx CEO and Washington minority owner Fred Smith is based in Memphis, and the Titans have appealed to him for some time. Sources also say that Steelers minority owner David Tepper could be a strong contender to vie for the club. Manning, obviously, would be the most high-profile suitor, and join the Panthers’ Jerry Richardson as the only current owners to have previously played in the NFL.