The decision made much more sense for the Houston Texans prior to the start of the 2012 NFL season.
Now, not so much.
The CBS affiliate in Houston reported Thursday that the Texans had the first shot to sign then-free agent Peyton Manning before the start of the 2012 season and passed.
Bob Allen, a veteran sports anchor in Houston for four decades, told MaD radio (610-AM) in Houston that the Texans were Manning's first choice.
"Spencer Tillman works with Archie (Manning) in New York on CBS on the weekends," Allen said on SportsRadio 610. "When Peyton became free and clear Archie told Spencer that Houston was his first choice."
Allen said the Texans were not interested. Owner Bob McNair echoed those sentiments on the same radio station during Manning's free agency.
"We've got a quarterback (Matt Schaub) that we think is sound. We think his foot is going to be fine. He's got a great arm and he can take us to a championship." McNair said on SportsRadio 610 in March of 2012. "(Manning) says he's 80-85 percent healthy but you don't know if he will get to 100 percent. There's a lot of risk (other teams are) taking because they can't work him out."
Manning had missed a year of football due to neck surgery in 2011. Schaub missed the last six games of the 2011 season because of foot injury. He had led the Texans to a 7-3 mark at the time of his injury, averaging 247.9 passing yards per game and throwing 15 touchdown passes. Schaub threw six interceptions.
He came back in 2012 and guided Houston to a 12-4 record, throwing for 4,008 yards with 22 TDs and 12 interceptions.
2013 has been a far different story for Schaub. He will look to start only his seventh game this season, with one to play after this weekend. Schaub has thrown for 1,905 yards with nine TDs and 10 interceptions in 2013. The Texans went 2-4 during his six starts before sitting him and giving Case Keenum a chance to play
Keenum is hurt this week, putting the ball back in Schaub's hands, according to ToroTimes.com.
Manning was asked about the Texans during the Denver Broncos' weekly teleconference with the media on Thursday.
"Certainly, I was kind of wide open to the whole process. It just all happened so fast." Manning said during the teleconference. "I was kind of curious as to what teams were interested in me and once I found those teams out, those are the kinds of teams that I ended up talking to."
The Broncos quarterback confirmed that the Texans never contacted him.
Manning has thrown for nearly 9,500 yards over the past two seasons in Denver. He has 84 touchdown passes with 21 interceptions during that span.
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