Colts' Owner Jim Irsay will select Luck

[maniax]

I was surprised to hear it because the Cardinals just gave a big contract to Kolb.

That's the beauty of the 49ers. Next year we do not owe big money to any QB.
Kap is due just a little over $1M, that's backup money.

Cardinals owe Kolb big money, Jets owe Sanchez big money, etc.

I don't think there's a playoff caliber team that does not owe a QB big money already. Maybe the Broncos?

 

[NinerSickness]

That's the beauty of the 49ers. Next year we do not owe big money to any QB.

That's a good point! Dare I get excited about Manning in SF???

 

[threelittleturds]

Manning in SF? That'd be a dream to rent him like the Vikings rented Favre. My only concern would be that it'd have to be 100% of him being healthy for next season. I'd hate for the 49ers to sign Peyton while letting Smith walk, just to have Peyton end up being forced into retirement from his neck injury.

Plus, Manning would raise the bar for Kaepernick. Instead of just getting to a waist high bar to replace Alex, he'd have to get up to one about 3 feet above the head.

This is of course, if the Colts even cut him, they don't really have to with the rookie salary cap. I'm sure they could figure out a way to keep Manning and Luck at the expense of letting the most of their free agents walk.

 

[maniax]

Manning in SF? That'd be a dream to rent him like the Vikings rented Favre. My only concern would be that it'd have to be 100% of him being healthy for next season. I'd hate for the 49ers to sign Peyton while letting Smith walk, just to have Peyton end up being forced into retirement from his neck injury.

Plus, Manning would raise the bar for Kaepernick. Instead of just getting to a waist high bar to replace Alex, he'd have to get up to one about 3 feet above the head.

This is of course, if the Colts even cut him, they don't really have to with the rookie salary cap. I'm sure they could figure out a way to keep Manning and Luck at the expense of letting the most of their free agents walk.

From the Colts Superbowl year to now, it seems like the Colts every year have been losing more talent and becoming worse and worse every year.
The only reason they used to keep winning the division was Manning.

I don't know if even with Peyton, they have enough talent to win the division, let alone compete with the cream of the crop of the AFC, or NFC.

Pats, Ravens, Texans, Steelers, Jets are all better than the Colts.

Luck will get a max. rookie contract so do you really want to sink $28M into Peyton and then $5M into Luck? That's almost 1/3 of your salary cap on 2 QBs.

I think the Colts would be best off letting Peyton walk. They let Harrison walk a few years ago with no hesistation and thanked him for all the years, I think they would do the same with Peyton.

 

[AdelaideCrows83]

Luck will get a max. rookie contract so do you really want to sink $28M into Peyton and then $5M into Luck? That's almost 1/3 of your salary cap on 2 QBs.

There seems to be a bit of confusion on the Internet regarding the impact of Manning's contract. I decided to do a small amount of research.

Point 1: The $28M roster bonus can be pro-rated over the remaining four years of Manning's contract.

Point 2: If Manning is kept by the Colts without re-negotiating his contract, his cap hit in 2012 would be approximately 17M-18.5M (consisting of pro-rated signing bonus, pro-rated roster bonus and 2012 base salary) depending on the source of the contract information.

Point 3: If the Colts choose to release Manning instead of paying him the $28M roster bonus, that would result in a $16 million salary cap hit for Indy in 2012 due to acceleration of the final four years on Manning's $20 million signing bonus (part of the five-year, $90 million extension signed last July).

Point 4: I am not suggesting there is no cap benefit for the Colts in releasing Manning. Significant savings would come in 2013, 2014, 2015. The cap benefits in 2012, however, are negligible.

 

[maniax]

There seems to be a bit of confusion on the Internet regarding the impact of Manning's contract. I decided to do a small amount of research.

Point 1: The $28M roster bonus can be pro-rated over the remaining four years of Manning's contract.

Point 2: If Manning is kept by the Colts without re-negotiating his contract, his cap hit in 2012 would be approximately 17M-18.5M (consisting of pro-rated signing bonus, pro-rated roster bonus and 2012 base salary) depending on the source of the contract information.

Point 3: If the Colts choose to release Manning instead of paying him the $28M roster bonus, that would result in a $16 million salary cap hit for Indy in 2012 due to acceleration of the final four years on Manning's $20 million signing bonus (part of the five-year, $90 million extension signed last July).

Point 4: I am not suggesting there is no cap benefit for the Colts in releasing Manning. Significant savings would come in 2013, 2014, 2015. The cap benefits in 2012, however, are negligible.

But if they release Manning BEFORE the $28M roster bonus is due, how do they get a $16M cap hit this year? I would have thought the cap hit would have been less.

Plus Irsay would still be paying him $28M cash out of his pocket, regardless of how the money is split across the seasons.

If I was him I'd cut Peyton and go with Luck. Go for the future, and save your money for other players. The Colts are not good enough to win the Superbowl in the next year or two so it does not make sense to keep Manning.

 

[Jikkle]

But if they release Manning BEFORE the $28M roster bonus is due, how do they get a $16M cap hit this year? I would have thought the cap hit would have been less.

Plus Irsay would still be paying him $28M cash out of his pocket, regardless of how the money is split across the seasons.

If I was him I'd cut Peyton and go with Luck. Go for the future, and save your money for other players. The Colts are not good enough to win the Superbowl in the next year or two so it does not make sense to keep Manning.

I agree the best move for the Colts is to let Peyton walk, go with Luck, dump Caldwell, and retool their roster a bit.

If Luck is all we believe he is than they can get back to being really good in a hurry if they draft smart.

As far as Manning going to the Cardinals I just don't see that happening. I think out of all the teams that would pursue him the two teams that he would choose would be the 49ers or Jets.

At this stage in his career I imagine he's looking for at least one more ring to further add to his legacy and 49ers are a far better option for that than the Cardinals. Plus I could see him being the type that would enjoy playing for Harbaugh. The Jets would be appealing because they aren't as good as the 49ers they still have a good team and there would be far more media attention there with playing the Patriots twice a year and playing in the same city as his brother.

The Cardinals are being mentioned because of the whole Kurt Warner thing but when Warner went to the Cards he was considered washed up and brought in as a backup/mentor to the Leinhart. This definitely won't be the case with Manning as if he's healthy there will be teams lined up for his services as a starter and impact player.

 

[AdelaideCrows83]

But if they release Manning BEFORE the $28M roster bonus is due, how do they get a $16M cap hit this year? I would have thought the cap hit would have been less.

They paid Manning a $20M signing bonus. This was pro-rated over the life of the contract, meaning a cap hit of $4M per year just from the signing bonus. We are 1 year into the contract, so $4M has been accounted for under the 2011 salary cap and there is $16M remaining. If Manning is released before June 1st (which he would be, as the roster bonus is due in March) then the remaining portion of the signing bonus will be absorbed as a cap penalty in 2012.

 

[deep9er]

They paid Manning a $20M signing bonus. This was pro-rated over the life of the contract, meaning a cap hit of $4M per year just from the signing bonus. We are 1 year into the contract, so $4M has been accounted for under the 2011 salary cap and there is $16M remaining. If Manning is released before June 1st (which he would be, as the roster bonus is due in March) then the remaining portion of the signing bonus will be absorbed as a cap penalty in 2012.

$28M roster bonus or signing bonus? btw - you posted $28M earlier, but $20M here?

think the key word in his question was "roster"? if they cut Manning before he makes the roster...............

 

[AdelaideCrows83]

$28M roster bonus or signing bonus? btw - you posted $28M earlier, but $20M here?

think the key word in his question was "roster"? if they cut Manning before he makes the roster...............

The signing bonus was $20mil. This was paid to Manning when the contract was signed.

The roster bonus is $28mil. This will only be paid if Manning is retained on the Colts roster after the March cutoff date.

As I said previously, the SIGNING bonus needs to be accounted for under the cap. As only $4mil of this bonus has already been accounted for, there is still $16mil remaining. Hence, the $16mil cap penalty if Manning is released.

 

[tzill]

The signing bonus was $20mil. This was paid to Manning when the contract was signed.

The roster bonus is $28mil. This will only be paid if Manning is retained on the Colts roster after the March cutoff date.

As I said previously, the SIGNING bonus needs to be accounted for under the cap. As only $4mil of this bonus has already been accounted for, there is still $16mil remaining. Hence, the $16mil cap penalty if Manning is released.

That's correct. My understanding is that he got a $20MM bonus on a five year deal. If he stays with the Colts for the duration of the contract, that's a $4MM cap hit every March 1 through 2015. If he is cut, the remaining unaccounted for bonus (in this case $16MM since $4MM was counted against the cap in 2011) accelerates and counts toward the current year's cap.

 

[deep9er]

The signing bonus was $20mil. This was paid to Manning when the contract was signed.

The roster bonus is $28mil. This will only be paid if Manning is retained on the Colts roster after the March cutoff date.

As I said previously, the SIGNING bonus needs to be accounted for under the cap. As only $4mil of this bonus has already been accounted for, there is still $16mil remaining. Hence, the $16mil cap penalty if Manning is released.

ok mahalo.

didn't realize there's both in play.

 

[deep9er]

what a tough spot, cause i understand you can't trade before deciding on Manning? you can't trade draft spots, players, or combinations thereof before cutting Manning?

BUT, can't they cut Manning and after the draft, still sign him again? as a free agent, Peyton Manning can go wherever he pleases, including the Colts right?

 

[MW49ers5]

what a tough spot, cause i understand you can't trade before deciding on Manning? you can't trade draft spots, players, or combinations thereof before cutting Manning?

BUT, can't they cut Manning and after the draft, still sign him again? as a free agent, Peyton Manning can go wherever he pleases, including the Colts right?

I read this a couple days ago and it seemed to indicate that moving back the bonus date was still an option - albeit one that Irsay shoots down in his twitter message.

Irsay Shoots Down Reports That He & Manning Are Discussing Moving Back the March 8 Deadline