Yahoo! Sports: Report: Irsay to meet with Manning in next week

The article:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ajxyk3pSNDjjPTWhDGPiINs5nYcB?slug=ap-colts-manning

Quoted in the article, Indianapolis Colts owner, Jim Irsay, said this regarding franchise QB Peyton Manning:

“We can make it work if he wants to be here...We’d be excited to have him back and finish his career with us."

Um, nice deflection, Irsay. Way to put it on all on Peyton, as if he didn't sign a contract prior to his injury, with the intention of playing in a Colts' jersey for the duration of his professional career.

Irsay continued:

“I want him to be able to make the choice. We would love to have him back here if he can get healthy and we can look at doing a contract that reflects the uncertainty of the … healing process with the regeneration of the nerve.”

Again, Manning already signed a contract.

If there was some sort of clause along the lines of, "if he doesn't play for an entire season, sustains a potentially career-ending injury, and the team takes a total nose dive, resulting in the guaranteed best-chance #1 pick since Peyton Manning himself in '98," I'm sure they would have played that card already.

But they haven't. And this now sounds like a game of chicken. Calling Manning's bluff. Or at the very least, like a very rich man, who has become even more wealthy, trying to get out of a $28 million dollar bonus owed to Manning come March 8.

If Irsay cuts Manning prior to March 8, he saves $28 million and can use it toward rebuilding his franchise. He also does so at his own risk.

Manning made Indianapolis relevant on the national level. He brought them nationally televised games and a heated rivalry with the New England Patriots. He helped them build a new stadium. He took them to two Super Bowls in four years, winning one of them. And he sold a shitload of blue and white jerseys. He is that damn team.

I understand that Irsay has to look at this as a business decision. I respect the difficult spot, stuck between loyalty to the old guard and looking ahead to the new. But saying things that shuffle the decision over to Manning I don't understand. Offer the media something like "we'll be meeting soon" or "Peyton is an important part of this organization" and be done with it. Less is better.

This QB changed the history of Colts football. Volleying the issue back to him sends me a message that some of that has been forgotten by studying numbers.