As the days of free agency continue to tick by, Peyton Manning gets closer to a decision and the favorites seem to change on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. Every day brings new rumors and Hall of Fame quarterbacks lining up to weigh in or to try to exert a little influence. Manning is reportedly targeting making a decision by Monday or Tuesday.
Despite best efforts, the Arizona Cardinals are out of the running, as are the Miami Dolphins, despite the Dolphins getting their Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino to reach out to Manning in setting up the initial meeting. That leaves three teams that are publicly in the running – the Denver Broncos, Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers.
Another Hall of Fame quarterback weighed in today, as former 49er Steve Young indicated that he thinks his former team is now the front runner.
“I think they’ll probably land him at this point,” Young said. “They know that they are the best answer for Peyton Manning. They know they have the best defense in the league to offer. They know they have the offensive weapons. They know they have Jim Harbaugh. They know all the pieces in place for Peyton Manning. It is the best opportunity for Peyton Manning. They knew it, and they waited for the wannabes to exhaust themselves, and then they came in right at the end.”
Manning obviously wants a shot at another title and, at age 35, he only has so many more seasons left in him. That’s what Young believes gives the 49ers the inside track.
“I know Peyton Manning is looking for a team to join now and win a division now and go to the Super Bowl now,” Young said. “That’s the San Francisco 49ers.”
That does seem to be the case, considering that the 49ers were only a couple of bad special teams plays short of the Super Bowl this year, and that the team’s biggest weakness was its passing game (despite an excellent season by Alex Smith, who had limited weapons at wide receiver). With Manning at quarterback, Randy Moss and perhaps another addition at wide receiver, the 49ers become one of the favorites for next year’s Super Bowl.
At the same time, Friday brought diminished expectations for the previous proposed front-runners, the Denver Broncos. The Broncos flew a group out on Friday to watch Manning work out at Duke, but didn’t come back with a commitment from Manning.
“We’re still in it,” a Broncos source said. “We don’t know. We’ll know more over the weekend.” That’s a step back from the confidence they exhibited early in the week.
They did walk away from the workout feeling good about Manning’s health. “We enjoyed visiting with Peyton today in North Carolina,” Broncos vice president and Denver’s Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway said via Twitter. “He threw the ball great and looked very comfortable out there.”
But there are still three in the running, including the Tennessee Titans (who don’t have a Hall of Fame quarterback of their own to pull out), so we’ll have to continue to wait for Manning’s decision early this week.
