The Peyton Manning to Miami courtship had lost it’s luster right about this morning when Adam Schefter of ESPN relayed that Manning would not be making any more free-agent visits.
However, Peyton Manning is now going to visit with the Miami Dolphins this evening or tomorrow before the start of free-agency thanks to saavy reporting by the NFL Network’s Jeff Darlington.
In reality, what we know of Manning’s visit is the following:
1. It will only be about football. What kind of offense the Dolphins plan on running with new Dolphin Head Coach Joe Philbin, personnel, potential pieces in Free agency that would fit are purely speculative anyone’s part. Everything is a guess at this point, but it would be great to be a fly on the wall.
2. Manning has already seen the facility twice in two Super Bowl visits to South Florida, so there is no point in seeing the NSMB (Nick Saban Memorial Bubble) weight room, or Super Bowl trophy case.
3. Peyton Manning is not looking for bells and whistles (orange carpet treatment), but rather a person in the front office that speaks football language like he does. It was reported widely by The Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero, that Manning has football people he can relate to in Denver with John Elway and Arizona with Ken Whisenhunt.
4. Owner and key schmoozer, Stephen Ross will not be present for this meeting to give the grand tour of Miami with his helicopter tour, dinner, and a beautiful array of star- studded fellow owners. This latest development has to discourage the Miami Dolphins, but many Dolfans should be cheering that Ross not privy to the meeting, is a helpful step in getting the Dolphins a QB and letting Ireland with Coach Philbin and possibly Coach Sherman chat with Peyton Manning.
Based on these key points, one has to look at whether the Denver and Arizona visits, which lasted over 6 hours were more of curiousity since Manning left without a deal or figures exchanged.
Did Manning throw a football for either team?
However, the Dolphins are in the mix…along with the now Texans and Titans. Should Alex Smith not be signed to a new deal in San Francisco, one has to wonder will the Manning camp head for the Santa Clara for a looksee?
A lot of questions remain. Without getting hopeful, Peyton Manning is meeting the Dolphins at an undisclosed location today or tomorrow. There is a beacon of hope and we as Dolfans need to band together to support this team’s efforts in bringing Manning to Miami.
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