Peyton Manning loves football so much he surrendered $4 million to the Broncos in order to play quarterback one more year.
The deal struck Wednesday between Manning and the Broncos to keep him in their huddle at age 39 resolved lengthy, sticky negotiations. The real-money sacrifice by Manning spoke volumes about his commitment to winning. The demand for a salary rollback left no doubt front-office executive John Elway is the boss in apountry.
“I’m excited to be back with the Denver Broncos,” Manning told The Denver Post.
But money reveals the bottom-line truth in pro sports. A pay cut is hard for any proud athlete to swallow, even if Manning ain’t the quarterback he used to be. His urgency to win a Super Bowl has never been greater, because 2015 figures to be his last chance.
When Elway slashed the pay of a fellow quarterback he deeply respects from the $19 million in Manning’s original Denver contract to a revised salary of $15 million for the upcoming season, it was as direct as message as any NFL team can send a player:
The end is near.
For the first time since 2012, when the most ballyhooed free-agent acquisition in league history pulled on a orange jersey, the Broncos are no longer all about Manning.
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No superstar worthy of the Hall of Fame volunteers to take a true $4 million pay cut. So give Manning props for acknowledging the humbling reality of what Elway obviously saw down the stretch last season, when his veteran quarterback threw 11 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. The decline in productivity was as much or more about skills diminishing with age as the injuries Manning suffered in game competition.
During the past three seasons, which saw the Broncos return to legitimate championship contention and Manning win the fifth MVP award of his brilliant career, almost everything in Denver was tailored to the quarterback’s specifications, and even coach John Fox seemed to work in the service of Manning.
When the uptight and uninspired Broncos were unceremoniously bounced from the playoffs at home by Indianapolis on Jan. 11, however, everything quickly changed. Fox was ushered out, replaced by Gary Kubiak, and Elway began reconstructing a team built to win now to win in the years after Manning’s retirement.
Given health that can never be 100 percent certain during a player’s 18th professional season in a violent sport, Manning will almost certainly break Brett Favre’s league records for most career passing yards and regular-season victories. Engraving his name on more pages in the NFL record book figures to be the easy part for Manning, whose football acumen will allow him to quickly pick up the terminology and nuances of Kubiak’s run-heavy, zone-blocking offense.
The real challenge for Manning will to become the oldest quarterback in league history to win the Super Bowl. After cutting his pay by $4 million in 2015, my guess is Elway is inclined to turn the team over to young Brock Osweiler in 2016 unless Manning helps the Broncos make a deep playoff run.
Manning kicked in $4 million to the cause of refortifying a Denver roster that could well lose defensive tackle Terrance Knighton, tight end Julius Thomas and offensive lineman Orlando Franklin in free agency.
But what does $4 million really buy in pro football? A bag of deflated balls? In the NFL, $4 million is chump change. Although Manning’s generosity gives the Broncos nearly $20 million to work with under the salary cap, the team has more roster holes than the budget allows to be filled.
When Manning turned back $4 million, here’s hoping the veteran quarterback also handed Elway a shopping list for the free-agent market. Wouldn’t Kansas City center Rodney Hudson and Miami tight end Charles Clay look good wearing Broncos uniforms?
Manning can no longer be reasonably expected to perform as the best Denver player on the field every week.
So Elway got the pay cut he wanted from Manning.
Now it’s Elway’s turn to hold up his end of the bargain.
For $4 million, all Manning wants is a ring.
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or
