Peyton Manning cleared to play.

Never liked him as a competitor, nor the shape of that melon attached to that long neck. I did like how much he studied film for weakness etc.

I did like most of his commercials and the "Blind side" spoof was great. Google it if you have not seen it.

He would be great to have if he could return to his old self, but thats a big "if" at the moment. The real talk will be in a couple months.

 

I don't see the relevance of comparing what Hasselbeck did last season to whether or not Montana was a "shell of his former self."

Yeah Montana's regular season yardage numbers were lower than average in 93 but then in 94 they were on par.

Regardless, Montana's magic was in his great playoff performances which continued with KC. Montana finished his final postseason game with 314 passing yards and two touchdowns.

The drop off when he went to KC was very minimal and he still had great success with them.

Using Montana as an example for why not to sign Manning was a very poor choice that just doesn't make sense.

Disagree completely. The upgrade is huge if Manning is 100% healthy and I don't see how anyone could seriously argue differently. Hasselbecks yardage last season would be Peyton's worst as a starter, obviously excluding his IR season last year. Hasselbeck's QBR would be Manning's worst excluding his rookie year. Hasselbeck's TDs would be Manning's worst year. There is not a lot of difference in the number of attempts between Hasselbeck last year and Manning's average either.

So the dumbest thing this franchise could do would be to acquire a future HoF QB that is one of the best ever at the position? :?:

Still want to argue that Manning isn't an upgrade of Hasselbeck?

 

I'm not ignoring the cap. We have the cap money to make it work and if Manning is 100% then we are a legit Superbowl contender with our current team (re-sign Finnegan forget everyone else). This team is more talented than many Colts teams. We still have our draft picks to improve us as well.

It is a risk vs reward scenario and obviously you do as much testing/research as you can before you sign him. And if it doesn't check out then you pass on him.

I'm not assuming that. Like I said, you research before you sign. IF he can be 90% of the player he was that is a huge upgrade.

Yeah it's sad for Hasselbeck and I appreciate what he did but this is a business.

I guess if Aaron Rodgers was released you'd be against signing him as well because it would hurt Hasselbeck's feelings? This is just not a legit reason to not consider Manning.

This is the best argument not to sign Manning and it's a good one. Not being on the coaching staff, I don't know how they feel about Locker's current status and progression.



Quick look at the hypotheticals...

Sign Manning, he sucks, we cause a cap problem for ourselves that didn't need to exist but we still have Locker to start in 2013.

Sign Manning, he's awesome and wants to play 3 more seasons, Locker looks good in mop up duty and has high trade value so we get a first round and latter round pick out of trading him before or after the 2013 season. Not a bad scenario especially if we win a Superbowl in the next 2-3 years, after all that would be the whole reason to sign Manning in the first place.

Sign Manning, he's awesome etc etc... Locker sucks in mop up duty. Oh well, bummer, it was a wasted first round pick and we get nothing in return.

 

We already have an average defense with a lot of young players.

I'd like to think we could get one impact player on defense in this draft. Maybe re-sign Babineaux for cheap as one of the safeties.

Agreed although I believe we could sign Manning and Finnegan then we are going bargain hunting.

What exactly do we know now? Not much.

I do make this assumption: Manning does not want to go out like a buster. I think if he recognizes his skill set has seriously deteriorated we will see him announce his retirement.

Hasselbeck isn't Manning. I consider Manning a huge upgrade to Hasselbeck so it's just tough luck for Hasselbeck. Opportunities like this are rare.

Yeah I'm excited about Locker as well. I won't be disappointed if Hasselbeck is the starter next season though. He did play well.

I would say it immensely raises the chances of us winning a Superbowl in the next 1-2 seasons.

Happens all the time. Kolb is a decent example (DRC and a 2nd rounder) based on limited statistics and opportunities.

You make it sound as if it will be impossible for a team to win a Superbowl with Manning.

What defensive starters are not under contract? We've still got Morgan, Kasey, Klug, Ayers, McCarthy, Witherspoon, Finnegan (since I've been preaching we re-sign him), McCourty, Alt-Verner. We'll need another couple D-linemen to work in the rotation and a safety or two.

And we've still got the draft.

QB is the most important position. He's been to two superbowls and his numbers have always been phenomenal.

Put Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Brady, a healthy Manning on the Titans and that might be all it takes. After all, we were the best non-playoff team this year and I would argue better than a few playoff teams. The Giants were 9-7 and had a 4 game losing streak and they could be champions in about 6 hours. We aren't that far off, we are in the competition though we are not among the elite. An elite QB puts us closer.

Consider all possibilities. A 100% Peyton Manning returning to the Colts puts them back in the serious Superbowl contender category next season, right? I think this current Titans team is more talented than a lot of the Colts teams Peyton had success with.

 

I'm sorry bruh but I'll take a 90% Peyton Manning over a 100% Matthew hasslebeck aka Mr. Glass, any day of the week

 

Would Manning want to play for Tennessee? Is anyone asking themselves that question? I don't think he wants to. If it comes down to sticking it to Irsay, I say he joins the Texans.

I also believe it would be a poor choice to throw the bank at Manning. Manning <> Superbowl. Good defense and offense = Superbowl. In '06, it was the Colts' defense that carried them through the playoffs and the Superbowl. Some of you act like its impossible without him.