They say all great things must come to an end, and Wednesday marked the end of the greatest era in Indianapolis Colts history. Peyton Manning’s career with the team officially came to an end. Watching the press conference, where both the player and the owner of the team shared their memories and goodbyes with each other and the city was definitely very emotional. With the divorce, Peyton Manning has now become the highest profile free agent in the history of the NFL and a plethora of teams are reportedly interested in acquiring the quarterback, including the Seattle Seahawks.
While it may sound intriguing to add a future hall of fame quarterback to the Hawks’ roster, Seattle should not entertain the idea and continue to build on their original plan of youth, defense and a balanced offense. Rumors are definitely heating up about Seattle making a big push and if they sign him, the Seahawks may actually take a step backwards. Seattle’s current roster is strong enough on defense, offense and special teams, that no matter the quarterback, the team will make the playoffs next season. Seattle will have to give up too much on both their philosophy and future if Manning is in the Pacific Northwest next year.
Many reports state that the team signing Manning will also be acquiring Reggie Wayne and quite possibly Jeff Saturday. I have said many times that Seattle should add another receiver, but not an aging receiver that had a subpar season in 2011. Yes, you can argue that last year, Wayne played without Manning. However, a great receiver can dominate no matter who is throwing the ball his way. Terrell Owens, for example, was a 1,000 yard receiver for almost every team he played for, even the Bills. Seattle needs to add a young receiver like a Laurent Robinson or Mario Manningham, as both guys will give the team many productive years and can actually help any quarterback. As for Jeff Saturday, if he is part of the Manning package, this will be a downgrade from Max Unger, as Saturday has been a very undersized offensive lineman and this goes against everything Seattle believes in.
Ok, so Manning will want to bring in his own players and, of course, his own offense. This is too much power for a player that you will have for a maximum of 3 to 4 years, if he doesn’t fizzle out before then. All of these demands are very similar to that of Brett Favre going to Minnesota a few years ago. Let’s just hope Pete Carroll doesn’t go to the King County Airport to personally pick up Mr. Manning. There have been many reports about Favre’s teammates not completely having his back; one of his main supporters was the kicker, and everyone does know that Manning is not quite the diva that Favre was. But showing too much favoritism towards one player can never be good for a locker room.
Onto the field, Manning has run one offense his entire career, his own and Seattle’s offensive coordinator currently has the Seahawks running a version of the West Coast offense. It is known that Peyton Manning is one of the brightest, if not brightest, players in the history of the game. But it is also known that veteran quarterbacks rarely like change, as seen with Favre, Montana, McNabb and Bledsoe. As mentioned earlier, any team interested in acquiring Manning must also accommodate his offense and personally, I believe that is just ludicrous. The West Coast offense has historically shown that it is one of the best offenses created for getting the most out of the quarterback and many teams have one using this system. The Eagles have created many star quarterbacks from this system, along with the 49ers, Packers, and even the Seahawks. Seattle, as young as they were last season, was only two games back of the Super Bowl champs and were so close to obtaining a Wild Card spot in the playoffs.
Signing Manning also brings the false expectation to Seattle that the team is a Super Bowl contender and not just a playoff team. As I said earlier, Seattle can and will make the playoffs regardless of who is behind center, including Tarvaris Jackson. Therefore, Manning should easily have no problem getting this team to the playoffs. But if one is to closely examine Manning’s career, there is a trend of playoff shortcomings. Whether it is Manning the player or Manning’s system, the Colts had a 9-10 playoff record during his era, and some really bad losses, like a 41-0 loss to the Jets in 2002. Even when he was able to get that elusive Super Bowl ring, it wasn’t because he carried the team. Manning actually had a horrible playoffs, posting passer ratings of 71.9, 39.6, 79.1 and 81.8 in the four games. He also finished that postseason with a total of 3 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. If not for the Colts’ defense and running game, he would have been Dan Marino 2.0. The point is, Seattle fans should not want Peyton Manning seeking for more than just the playoffs, because all Manning guarantees is a trip to the playoffs not Super Bowl.
Manning was never one to just beat you with his arm. Many have forgotten why there was such a debate about whether to select Manning or Ryan Leaf with the first pick and in retrospect it is easy to laugh about. Many had considered Leaf because he was physically more equipped than Manning, and was said to be able to adapt both indoors or outdoors. Manning was lucky to play for an indoor team and Leaf, unfortunately, did not have the same head on his shoulders that Manning did. But Seattle is an outdoor team that faces all of the elements and Manning is no longer 22 and coming off four neck procedures. This should be a huge red flag when considering him for the Seahawks, and maybe that was why he performed poorly in the playoffs against some of the outdoor teams.
The Seahawks have been building something special these past few seasons, all while being one of the NFL’s youngest teams. With the release of Marcus Trufant, Seattle now added more cap space to an already large cap and now has around $42 million to shop around. Instead of focusing on Peyton Manning, Seattle needs to pay attention to Red Bryant and find a way to bring him back before next week. Drafting carefully and retaining David Hawthorne are also critical to a great 2012 season. If Seattle really wants to sign a quarterback with their added cap space, Matt Flynn is a much more viable option and can give the Seahawks at least 10 more great seasons, without having to change their offensive philosophy. So, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Carroll and most importantly Mr. Allen, please do not sign Peyton Manning, we are already heading in the right direction.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
