Immediately following Denver's loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, rumors started swirling that Peyton Manning was considering retirement, which he did not exactly deny in his postgame comments.
However, it now appears that it is possible that Manning has thrown his last pass for Denver for another reason entirely.
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According to CBS Boston, Manning's situation in Denver may be far more complicated than anyone realized. He and offensive coordinatore Adam Gase are very close, and Gase is one of the few people Manning would talk to after the Indy loss.
"[Manning] is extremely close with Adam Gase, who's the offensive coordinator. Extremely close," said Darren McKee, a Colorado sports radio personality. "And yesterday when they were cleaning up their lockers, Manning did not show up at all, he avoided the media completely. But he was spotted outside the media room talking with Adam Gase. So this is a fascinating situation.
"The San Francisco 49ers," McKee continued, "they really want to hire Adam Gase, and so, did this all happen so that the Broncos could hire Adam Gase [as head coach] to satisfy Peyton Manning? And I've got one source that says 'Yup!' and I've got one source that's great that says 'no.' So, I think it's a very up in the air sort of thing. The real question is how much do you want to rely on Peyton Manning? And that's the tricky part."
McKee also said that Manning failed a test of courage during the game, saying, "In [the Colts-Broncos] game, when it was third-and-5 and Peyton Manning had the entire field open just to limp over to get a first down, he insists on throwing the ball instead of [running]. It was a moment - a courageous test - and he failed it miserably."
McKee said that Manning is also isolated within the Broncos organization. "Manning has like, no friends on the team. All the guys that Manning pals around with are either - like John Lynch is retired, or Brandon Stokley is retired - older guys or people who are out of it, or the 20 to 30 people he ships in for every home game. ... He just doesn't connect with anybody on the team."
So while nothing is official, it certainly sounds like there would not be a lot to keep Manning in Denver anyway, but especially if Gase left to take the 49ers head job. Manning almost signed with San Francisco over Denver a few years ago anyway, but he was worried about clashing with Jim Harbaugh.
As for Denver, if San Francisco is willing to trade for Manning, that certainly seems more palatable than just releasing him. Parting ways with Manning would also free up money for the Broncos to re-sign some of their many key free agents. Only time will tell.
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