IMO, worse case scenario is that we end up with a reboot of Chad P's time here where Manning can't ever get full strength and he ends up wearing down by the end of the season. while it puts buts into the seats, it inevitably sends us spiraling back down to a team picking in the top 10 in 2-3 years. that's the worst case scenario. hopefully, that's not the case. hopefully we get Manning at 90%, we can protect him, we make a run with him after bolstering our defense with #8 pick and for once we can win the AFC East title w/o trickerations (wildcat).
just because Mort says he's 85-90% means absolutely nothing. Doesn't matter what any of the speculation says. IMO, it comes down to the fact that we can't possibly tell how much Manning will recover by the season. It comes down to a gamble. You either are all-in or all-out. If you're all in, you jump in head first, sign Manning with the risks and hope the gamble pays off.
Since it does seem apparent Ross and Ireland have gone All In on Manning, I'm trying to make out the best of this. Let's say Ohio is right, and all we get from Manning in one season from him. Well, his opinion would carry alot of weight should there be another hot shot free agent quarterback out there looking for a place to come. Some have advocated a back-up learning behind Manning. Well....as much as I like Manning, I don't think Manning would be that great of a teacher. Curtis Painter had what, 3 years behind Manning? I just hope our quarterbacks coach along with essentially the Green Bay OC unit here could take care of that for our long term future.
I think Peyton likes to be treated with as much respect as he has given to the game of football. My tactic to him would be this: After all the football talk, I would say "If you tell me you are good throwing the ball, I will take your word on it. We don't need you to throw the ball for us. We trust your word." Peyton seems to be the kind of guy that would really hold on to that and that would be a difference in selecting us -vs- a team wanting him to throw 100 passes to prove it.
agreed. if we're developing a QB, it's the job of the coaching staff to do so. doesn't mean manning isn't the example that they constantly point to to develop a young QB, but I also don't get the impression Manning is a teacher. more of a lead-by-example kind of guy.
One thing that has not been mentioned that needs to be, Do you really think Peyton Manning would go out there and embarrass himself? If he wasn't confident he'll be in top form this season, he would have just retired. The guy is a perfectionist.
Jimmy J is basically saying the same thing.These are SB winning coaches that recognize the importance of the QB position.
I'll be surprised if he actually signs a contract like that. I think he'll get significant guaranteed money.
I'm curious...how do we know the reason for all of Manning's recent surgeries. I've heard a lot of stuff but haven't actually seen anything official other than the first surgery. I'm sure I missed something.
Come on man.... Dont you....deep down inside.....really hope your wrong...and Peyton comes in and tears it up for a few years? Can you imagine the shot in the arm this franchise would get?
Do I hope it works out? Yes. I don't make decisions based on hope though. I make them based on the evidence, and the evidence shows that the best we can hope for with Peyton is to get 2-3 years out of him before we have to move on. I am completely uninterested in signing yet another short term band aid for this position. This team has not addressed the long term future of this position in 13 years, and they aren't doing it by signing Peyton.
I agree with Shula 100%. Unfortunately it isn't Shula who is responsible for enticing Manning to sign with the Dolphins. That responsibility falls on Ross and Ireland and I just don't have any confidence that these two will be able to close the deal with Manning and Manning's agent. I keep having this repeated nightmare that Peyton Manning signs with the New York Jets and the Dolphins are stuck with starting Matt Moore again next season.
I am sure some will be, but not anywhere close to his colts contract, and not anything that could potentially hinder the teams cap for years that he signs with.
Who cares what is going to happen in the future. The Heat signed Shaq at the end of his career and they went on and won an NBA title. Without Shaq on that Heat team, there was no way the Heat were going to win that title. Manning will make the Dolphins a much better team immediately and if the Dolphins can get into the playoffs, anything can happen once the playoffs begin. I don't see Flynn or any of the other QB's in the draft having the immediate impact that Manning would have. In fact I am not that high on Flynn and I hope the Dolphins don't go after him if Manning decides to go somewhere else. My first choice would be for the Dolphins to trade up and take RG3. Since this doesn't appear to be possible right now, I see Manning as the only other option at this time. After Luck and RG3, I just don't see any other QB's in this years draft who will be productive starters in the future. So the Dolphins should offer Manning whatever it will take to get him to come here for the next two to three years and then the Dolphins can worry about their future QB in the 2013 or 2014 draft.
No, he is a 4 time MVP, there are no others who have reached that level of respect. To even suggest he is or should be compared to the likes of some others who include rapist, murderers, drunks, and dope users is way over the top as well as disrespectful to him as a person imho.
Any smart football person would care about the future and being able to build something that can sustain success.
So you are saying the playing at a Hall of Fame level is going to make him more aware of when his skills decline to the point that he is a shell of himself? So, what happened with Johnny Unitas at the end?
I agree with this 100%. You can't use Peyton's self-evaluation as a factor in deciding if he'll be an effective QB going forward. He is the ultimate competitior with confidence that none of us will ever have. He will never admit that he can't hack it. He'll be like those Knights in Monty Python who's arms get hacked off but still think they're gonna win the battle.
The Dolphins have not been able to fill the QB position since Marino retired. What makes you think that Flynn or any of the other second tier QB's in this years draft will be any better than the QB's who have filled the position since Marino retired? Manning on the other hand has shown over the last 14 seasons that he is a huge star in the NFL. He may be only able to play for another two or three seasons, but at least the Dolphins will have a QB who actually can help them win games in the fourth quarter. Any SMART football fans would want a four time MVP over a QB with a grand total of two starts in the NFL over the last four years, or a unproven rookie who will probably never be anything but a backup in the NFL. If the Dolphins can't get Luck or RG3, I just don't see any of the other QB's in this years draft being the long term answer at QB for the Dolphins. I believe that the long term answer at QB for the Dolphins will still be playing in college next year and that the Dolphins will be able to use their first round draft pick in 2013 or 2014 to draft their future QB.
From TSN.ca: Fans hear the words "neck fusion" and wonder why Peyton Manning is even considering playing again, fearful he'll risk a career-ending injury -- or worse -- the next time he takes a hit. But safety isn't Manning's issue, several spine specialists said. Arm strength is. Manning's surgically repaired neck will be able to take a hit just fine once the fusion is healed, with the bone actually stronger than others in his neck. Nerves are delicate, however, and only time will tell if they'll recover enough for the 35-year-old four-time NFL MVP to be the quarterback he once was. "His risk really is very low," said Dr. Robert S. Bray Jr., who has worked with NHL star Sidney Crosby and whose DISC Sports & Spine Center provides medical services for the U.S. Olympic team. "If I was a team, I'd ask, 'Did (the fusion) heal? Do you have a CAT scan that showed it healed? Is the rest of neck in pretty good shape?"' Bray asked. "If those two answers are yes, then it gets down to, 'OK, get out on the field and show me you can perform,' because it will only get better from here with time."
Of course we could sort of follow the way old Ron Wolf used to do it. Draft a mid to late round QB nearly every year. Work with them, see which ones have what it takes, and trade them for higher draft picks. Out of all that keep the best one for ourselves. If we sign Manning, I wouldn't go QB in the 1st. I'd go for pass rush or protection for Manning, depending on what we do in free agency. Then, take a QB at some point from the 3rd round on.
Physically he is the same, and that's what KB is talking about. Not what is between the ears, which forms their character. You could be the most high character athlete ever and your body is no more capable of healing from this kind of surgery than mother rapers, or father stabbers, or father rapers, or anyone else who gets told to sit on the bench marked "Group W".
No, what I'm saying KB is that to compare Peyton Manning to just anyother pro is not a valid reason to dismiss hiring him or to suggest he will fall into the same trap that they did without digging much deeper into each person's motive. Now as to the suggestion that teams must see him throw and how he will react to that I suggest that we only have to look no farther back than 2006 and the handling of Drew Brees. I would almost stake my life that Peyton Manning sure as hell knows just how Payton treated Drew and will expect the same treatment and respect, as well he should! In fact he has said the same no later than Wednesday in a church parking lot in Miami. Mr. Ross, Jeff, and Joe you all just might want to listen to that remark ("I don't feei I have anything to prove!") if you have any real chance to land this player. I give you the Drew Brees affair: http://www.boltsfromtheblue.com/2010/2/8/1301176/why-did-the-chargers-let-drew While, yes its not the same injury, it is just as career ending and required the same type determination to over come and also, more importantly, involves being able to throw effectly. Are there risk involved, of course all life is a risk, the only way to avoid that is to get out of the game! The route to take has already been traveled by others, the faint hearted need not apply (they never do) As Randy says "In it to win it!" Drew Brees is not your average athlete neither is Peyton Manning!
I think that headline makes Shula sound like an idiot. Only a fan boy caught up in the excitement would want to jump into this without seeing Manning throw. In the meat of the article Shula does talk about the need to investigate, but most won't read past the headline. As for Manning being a special athlete, sure, but does that mean he doesn't have to deal with age and injury? Reality is that even "special athletes" all succumb to time. I don't see the Brees comparison as apples to apples b/c Brees was 10 years younger. I just think the nature of this injury is that it has nothing to do with hard work or character. There is no reason to believe that Manning has special nerves. If anything, the history of spinal stenosis in his family would lead you to believe that Manning is more at risk to this kind of injury than most.
What we need from Officer Opie are the 8 X 10 glossy photographs with the red circles and arrows on the front and the paragraph on the back of each showing how long it took the ball to leave the hand when he made the decision to fling it, the trajectory and time of flight of the football as it made its way to the receiver's hands, and the position of the football when the receiver actually got his hands on it from when he actually threw the ball over the half of ton of garbage at the bottom of the cliff. In other words - can he still throw the ball effectively? If not, then it's time to hang it up and mosey off to Canton. If he can, then maybe there's a chance he can make a difference on this football team. Until we know, it's still a bunch of junk being tossed of the cliff hoping for a good Thanksgiving. And, there's some things you can't get! No matter how long you sing the song!
I'm aware of what KB is saying and in the interest of fair play I admit stats wise he could very well be right but when you start applying stats to an indivual you weaken your chance of being right Doctor or no Doctor! Cancer victims beat the odds all the time thus if you allow stats to rule your thinking when talking to your patient you are killing the very will that will make all the difference in the world! Thus I would reply by stating it is the very thing you state not being the important part of this debate as being the very thing KB places no value on, sadly I might add. The Mind is truly a terrible thing not only to waste but to short change went determining the possible or impossibility of something. Remember one becomes a SEAL not because of a superior body but a superior mind!