Cleveland Browns say Indianapolis Colts former QB Peyton Manning not on team’s agenda-NFL News
Cleveland Browns, who are out in the market in search of a quarterback, denied that Indianapolis Colts’ former QB, Peyton Manning, was on their radar on his availability on the free agency from March 14, 2012.
Interestingly, the statement leaves Browns to be among the only few teams that have refused to jump on the Peyton bandwagon, in spite of admitting the stature of the player, who is the four-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the National Football League
(NFL).
During a media talk around the possibility of recruiting new top draft quarterback, Robert Griffin III, Browns’ general manager, Tom Heckert, was asked if the management would be interested in signing Manning. The GM responded by saying “Not really.”
Heckert added:
“He's obviously a great player and all that, but where we're at and where he's at. To be honest, we have not talked to him or anything. No, that's probably not a direction we're going in.”
Manning’s next move has become the most talked-about issue in the NFL since his release by Colts on Wednesday, March 07, 2012.
More than a dozen teams have come out with their explicit desires to take the player on board, while many hold the same ambitions but are yet to disclose them.
The NFL trade period will expire on March 13, 2012 and after that Manning will become a free agent, but Browns are lacking interest in pursuing the veteran quarterback.
This could be a wise decision by Browns, according to some commentators, given that the player’s health and fitness are still to be proved in real environment.
Even though Peyton repeatedly spoke of his ambitions to return to the game while asserting that his recovery from a neck injury was on track, Colts’ owner, Jim Irsay, wanted him to pass the team’s physicals.
A leaked video recently showed Peyton throwing ball at an aggressive pace at the Duke University’s facility, still there is no independent confirmation of present status of his throwing arm strength.
This was probably the reason that Irsay did not want to gamble while retaining Manning and paying him the bonus of $28 million.
With Browns out of race, Peyton still holds the prospects of joining another team off the free agency.
Browns are said to be happy with their quarterback, Colt McCoy.
At the same time, they are working out on their options around the possibility of bringing in the second top draft quarterback, Griffin III, which could happen by trading the second overall pick with St. Louis Rams. The team is reported to be in talks with
Rams.
The manager confirmed to have been in talks with Rams over the possibility, but said the process was still in its preliminary phase.
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