Denver Broncos Rumors: Was Peyton Manning On Trade Block Or Not? Confusion Reigns Over Texans Talks
Did the Denver Broncos try to trade Peyton Manning to the Houston Texans — or not? Conflicting reports exploded into the media on Wednesday and while it’s impossible to know which one is true, one thing appears certain. The Broncos at least thought about trading the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer to the Houston Texans before retaining Manning a reduced salary.
On Tuesday night, a Houston radio station “confirmed” that the Broncos and Texans did indeed hold what sources cited by Denver Sports Radio 610 called “very preliminary” discussions with Houston about a possible trade that would send Manning to the Texans.
But on Wednesday, Denver TV station KUSA reported exactly the opposite thing. The reports of trade talks were just baloney, the station said.
“Not once did the Denver Broncos place a phone call to another team in an attempt to deal Peyton Manning,” KUSA “Broncos insider” Mike Klis reported, citing a “top-level team source.”
“The Broncos’ source added the team never considered trading Manning, adding the entire focus was bringing the star quarterback back for the 2015 season with a salary reduction.”
Eventually, the Broncos did insure that Manning would remain in Denver, persuading the superstar quarterback to accept a pay cut of $4 million for 2015.
That was considerably less than the $10 million cut that the team had hoped to foist on Manning, according to Klis. Manning also insisted upon and received a no-trade clause, which combined with the fact that the team tried to extract $10 million from him, would seem to indicate that Manning values remaining in Denver for what could be the final season of his career more than he values a cordial relationship with the front office.
“Frankly, the fact Manning didn’t tell John Elway to stick his horseshoe somewhere is probably a sign that Manning valued inertia more than the Broncos did,” wrote NFL expert Mike Florio of the Pro Football Talk site. “While he may not be the quarterback he once was, he’s still Peyton Manning, and lopping off more than half his salary is something you don’t do unless you’re prepared for him to walk.”
While the general perception after the 2014 season was that Manning’s skills were in serious decline, his quarterback rating of 101.5 — while the lowest of his three seasons in Denver — was higher than any rating he posted with his first and only other team, the Indianapolis Colts, since the 2005 season.
While Peyton Manning agreed to drop his guaranteed $19 million salary in 2015 to $15 million, he still has a 2016 contract with the Denver Broncos for $19 million — and that contract remains unchanged. But his 2016 contract is not guaranteed, and it appears unlikely that he’ll ever see that money.
[Image: Donald Miralle/Getty Images]
