I have no problem with the Colts deciding to part ways with Peyton Manning.  $28M is a lot of money to pay someone to play football after having so many neck surgeries.  However, Peyton Manning deserved to have this process handled so much differently.  

There was no reason for comments like “his arm is like a wet noodle” or “the ball is in his court” to be played out in the media in the past month or so.  The Colts knew the second that the season ended that they were going to draft Andrew Luck to be their QB of the future and that they were not going to pay Manning that $28M roster bonus…UNLESS Andrew Luck died, got severely injured or murdered someone before the draft.  They owed Peyton Manning the truth up front and to have nothing but praise to heap onto Peyton on his way out the door.

Where would the Indianapolis Colts be without Peyton Manning?  They would be on their third city for sure because the bumbling idiots in ownership would have called another moving company to come in the middle of the night to pack up and relocate to another town.  Everyone knows that the cure to bad ownership is to change scenery.  Suck in Baltimore? Move to Indianapolis and it will all be better!  Jim Irsay would still be in drug rehab or dead.  Instead, they avoided the growing momentum on draft day to pick Ryan Leaf and made the right choice.  They ended up with one of the 10 best QBs in the history of the league and went from one of the worst franchises to one of the top 3 or 4 in the NFL.

Peyton Manning deserved to go out a conquering hero that was beloved and thanked for all that he did.  Instead, he has to go out as a cap cut.  The NFL is the richest sport in the United States.  With all the money coming in on the television deals, every team is basically printing their own money.  

Why can’t the NFL have the “Larry Bird rule” like the NBA had?  Allow teams to keep iconic players without it crippling their salary cap.  Instead, the Colts have to let the face of their franchise walk away so they can afford to draft the POTENTIAL QB of the future.  Andrew Luck hasn’t thrown one pass in the NFL.  No one knows for sure what kind of a pro he will be.  No one knows for sure whether he will be the next Peyton Manning or the next Ryan Leaf.

Since the Colts are banking on Luck being the next Peyton Manning, they had better hope and pray they are right since they are letting the current Peyton Manning go.