This is obviously the talk of the offseason and it seems that the frontrunners have been Miami, Washington, Arizona and now Seattle is in the mix. I think it is fair to assume that Peyton Manning is a pretty smart guy and he is very self aware. The fact that he threw out the notion of a incentive laden contract shows the confidence in himself and he is most likely very hungry to show everybody that he is okay. My thinking is that he is going to want to go to the best overall team and outside of maybe Miami, none of these teams really have much going on in my opinion.
Let us go over some of the teams in question. Washington has no real receivers or stable running game to speak of, as well as an aging defense that has a couple of bright spots. Arizona, that would be pretty crazy as they just signed Kolb to such a big deal, can they really put that much money and pressure on one position. I guess if the contract was structured correctly, than it could work. Arizona has Larry Fitz, a stable running game, not a great offensive line but coaches who in Ken Whisenhut and Russ Grimm that know how to coach it up. Defensively, we are not sure if it will be able to sign Calais Campbell and that leaves Adrian Wilson and Patrick Peterson out there without much else. Much like Seattle, they are in the NFC West and will have less competition, but San Francisco seem to be pointed in a new direction and with Jeff Fisher at the helm, a healthy Sam Bradford and a bunch of picks coming in, the Rams could compete again. Seattle needs a quarterback, not a ton of talent at the skill positions and they still need to sign Marshawn Lynch. I don't think any of these teams are considered an automatic challenge to the crown just by adding Manning. Don't get me wrong, I do think he is good enough to do that, but I don't think he wants to have to carry a team.
How about this team that was briefly mentioned at the beginning but not a ton since, the New York Jets. I know it sounds crazy, but I don't have a problem with Sanchez but the goal in this league is to win and they have the talent to do just that with Peyton Manning on board. They need to shore up a couple of holes but they have a good enough defense that when given points to work with could be scary. I don't like the fact that Santonio was brought back, but that was a contractual issue and had to be done. I think his attitude would change in a hurry if Manning was brought on board. Dustin Keller would turn into an absolute beast with #18 back there and you could fill the other receiver with Braylon Edwards and as long as he checks his attitude, would be a suitable fill in. I think Randy Moss would be fine with jumping on board as well for a pretty cheap price, which would be an instant threat as he wouldn't have to go across the middle either, just spread the defense. The biggest problem would be Rex Ryan and Tony Sparano. Would they allow Peyton to come in and play offense his way? I think Ryan wouldn't care as he loves Manning and if you asked him, he would take him in an instant. The issue he has while showing some restraint is that if they don't land him, he would have to deal with Mark Sanchez's ego being hurt, which could turn into a big issue. Despite all of this, I think it works out great for both parties and is the only spot that could make an instant contender in my opinion.
