Should Peyton Manning play on for another year rather than retire?
Friday 4 March 2016 17:42, UK
There are rumours around the NFL that Peyton Manning could decide against retirement in the 2016 off-season. Our US sportswriter Alex Ferguson looks at the pros and cons of No 18 coming back….
The great thing about the NFL off-season is that we get to make comments about whether certain teams were right about giving big players the franchise tag, ask questions about free agency, and say our goodbyes to the great ones who have retired (See you, Marshawn Lynch! Goodbye Calvin Johnson!).
And there's the curious case of Peyton Manning, who seems to be in flux over whether he wants to continue playing…..
So I measured out the pros and cons of the two-time Super Bowl-winning future Hall of Famer playing again:
Pros
Peyton Manning is an idol and every team would be made better by his presence - not only on the field but also off it.
It would bring massive attention to another franchise (the Los Angeles Rams are rumoured to be thinking about making a run for him). Not only that, but he would get to compete for his third Super Bowl title, putting him above his brother Eli, who 'only' has two.
Three rings would also put Peyton Manning in the victory ring with the likes of Troy Aikman and Steve Young - and those are names you'd WANT to have your name alongside.
The biggest reason why Peyton Manning should come back, though, is that he can silence the doubters. There's no escaping the fact that the 2015/16 season was not a pretty picture for him.
In fact, it was pretty terrible in terms of not only stats (nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and his lowest season in terms of career yards - which you could blame on injury) but also how he played.
His throwing at times was nigh-on awful, and never looked like improving. Rebounding on a high that's not just based on a fabulous defence, but also a tremendous offence led by him.
Oh, and a couple more years could be quite a nice payday, too.
Cons
The NFL loves its comeback stories, but Peyton Manning already had one when he replaced Brock Osweiler after being dropped and never looked back, taking home a Super 50 crown. He doesn't need another one where he gets off his death bed to take a team to a mediocre record, quite possibly because of his poor quarterbacking.
His 9:17 TD:INT rate was simply awful, and if you look at the stats throughout this season, he had stumbled to his worst year since his rookie season in completion percentage. And when he tried to throw the ball a long way, it was almost sad to watch how bad the throws were. They aren't going to get any better in 2016, unless he suddenly gets fitted with a bionic arm in the off-season.
If Manning leaves now, he'll be celebrated as a Bronco. He's going to be cut by John Elway, but Elway really doesn't want to do it in the harsh fashion that he normally would. But cutting Manning would save the organisation $19m, and why would they want someone who had such a poor year when they've got the up-and-comer in Brock Osweiler, who showed some excellent prowess in his few games - and a better arm.
The NFL is not a league that's high on sentiment, so Manning should take all the good wishes he can get, continue promoting and maybe get a job in the TV booth.
The final 'con' - and I'm saying this without tongue-in-cheek - is that I don't think that Manning would get through the 2016 season without injury. Every bit of his body is in pain right now, and his mother has told reporters that she really, really doesn't want him to come back this year. I think it's a mother's intuition that she doesn't want to see her son scraped off the field. Which I think could well happen if he takes foot again.
What do you think Manning should do? Should he ride off into the sunset with the second Super Bowl ring in his back pocket or is he good for one more rodeo? Fill in the form below and join the debate by leaving your thoughts...
