After his third neck surgery in 19 months it’s still uncertain if Indianpolis Colts star quarterback Peyton Manning will see any playtime this season but that hasn’t stopped team officials from paying Manning $3 million, with $26 million guaranteed on the year.
Manning collected his $3 million roster bonus at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday since the Colts have not yet placed him on season-ending injured reserve.
Manning was required to have a cervical fusion on Thursday, a move that left his season in question. If Manning doesn’t recover as expected the team has the right to terminate his contract at the end of this season, a clause Manning specifically had his agent Tom Condon add into his contract in order to protect his team from costly injuries he might sustain.
In a vote of confidence for their QB, Colts vice chairman Bill Polian revealed to CBS on Sunday that if he does return Manning will still be a Colt.
“Can’t predict anything, particularly true with injuries,” Polian also revealed to CBS, adding, “in terms of Peyton Manning playing football, he’s going to play for the Colts, that’s for sure.”
When asked if Manning would return to play this season he added:
“Honestly don’t know. We will leave the roster open,” and “The doctors, and I underline that, will make that determination. … We were going through the process here, we recognized early on his physical condition, but it’s not career-threatening according to everyone we spoke to — at his age, things like this might happen and that was taken into consideration.”
Now Colts fans can just wait in nervous anticipation for an announcement in the weeks to come.
