Give Manning another year. The difference should be that if he is injured or production drastically diminishes bench him. I think that was one of the major mistakes this year. Manning should have taken a few weeks off. Osweiler, whatever his passing ability, is more than capable of handing off to Anderson like we did for much of the final few games.
I didn't vote in the poll, since my answer is a bit more nuanced than a simple "yes" or "no".
I think that any player who is Manning's age has to at least consider retiring at the end of each season. Certainly wouldn't want PM back if he didn't have his heart fully into the work involved with playing another year.
If PM decides that he does still want to play another year, then I welcome his return, though I think that the team needs to make adjustments that (1) aim to better preserve his health (i.e., a better defense and a more consistent running game) and (2) have a backup QB who we trust to play when Manning is dinged up / injured / hurt.
For me, it depends on the coach brought in. If it's a brand new coach like Dan Quinn or Teryl Austin, I'd rather not saddle them with the responsibility of winning a Super Bowl in their first year as a head coach. I'd rather see them build a team in their image and find success. If it's a coach like Kubiak, I wouldn't mind if Manning came back and gave it one more shot as long as the team addresses the offensive line issues.
I think this even goes beyond just Manning though for the team. He carries a pretty high Cap Number and we have quite a few all-star players up for contracts. Now obviously if he comes back we can still sign them and just back load a few of the contracts so it wouldn't be that big of a deal but that extra about $15 million in cap space is always nice to have. At the same time if Manning has his heart in the game and gets fully healed up then hard to replace such production unless they feel Osweiler really is ready to be the man. Keep reading reports that the team really is excited about seeing Osweiler and what he can do. Haven't voted yet so will have to come back on this one.
I'll come out and say it: Manning should hang up the cleats and go be a part of the staff for Denver or another team. Seeing Manning against the Colts reminded me too much of what Favre looked like when he was "done". I just don't see that Manning has much more to give.
We then use that $15MM+ to keep the veterans we need, and build a team around Osweiler. Manning being Manning I think put the rest of the team into a false sense of security. When he was off, there wasn't much of a response by the rest to rise up. With Oz, this could could change the whole mindset of the team, and make them provide a foundation for Oz, instead of learning to lean on Manning.
I like the idea of Kubiak coming in and bringing in Schwartz to man the defense. (As long as he's not scooped up by the Bills' former HC) If Kubes is still not interested (and I think he really is, regardless of any reports from unknown "sources") then perhaps Quinn would be a good choice too.
To tell ya truth I don`t care how it pans out as long as I see a team that is fired up "every" game, comes to play everyday, and has the disire to and the motivation to win a championship and doesn`t take games and situations for granted. Saw to much of the opposite last yr IMO and that is mostly on the coaching. Give us some coaches that know how to get the best out of their players, put them in positons for them to best utilize their talents, Instill a mind set that the goal is nothing short of a SB and if you don`t embraced that phylosophy ?, you will be gone. No more Mr, nice guy Foxy crap. Get serious and bring some attitude! Don`t matter if its Manning or Oz to me. Lets just change the atmosphere that reeked of entitlement and replace it with one that craves greatness and nothing less. Randy for Prewsident!!!! Sorry, couldn`t help that. I crack myself up sometimes with my tirades,etc