INDIANAPOLIS – Peyton Manning sounds positive about coming back. The Denver Broncos have made it clear they want Manning back.
What is holding up an official announcement that Manning will play again in 2015? It’s the undefined “process” that new Broncos coach Gary Kubiak kept talking about.
Manning is taking his time. General manager John Elway has been busy with a lot of things, Kubiak pointed out. So apparently there hasn’t been a huge rush to find out if one of the greatest quarterbacks ever will return for 2015.
“I think it’s Peyton needing time to assess his situation, his health,” Kubiak said. “It’s just the NFL offseason, I guess.”
Could the holdup be about Manning’s base salary, which is slated to be $19 million (and is guaranteed on March 9)? Perhaps. A restructuring could help the Broncos retain key free agents like receiver Demaryius Thomas and tight end Julius Thomas. Kubiak said that “the process” is between Manning and general manager John Elway, which made it sound like Manning’s fit in Kubiak’s offense isn’t an issue. Kubiak seemed amused by the notion Manning couldn’t fit in his offense. He said Joe Flacco maybe ran 25 bootleg plays all last season when Kubiak was the Ravens' offensive coordinator. That number would probably be about zero with Manning, and that's fine.
“You do what your players do best,” Kubiak said.
So whatever the process is that Kubiak kept mentioning, it goes on. Part of it will be Manning passing a physical because of the neck surgeries in his medical history, but that hasn’t been a problem before. Everything at this point indicates Manning will return.
“He’s been positive in talking to me, he’s been very positive with John when he came to town last week, so we continue to move forward,” said Kubiak, who has spoken to Manning but added that he didn't talk football with the quarterback. “I’ll let he and John work that out.”
Even though Manning struggled a bit late last season and will turn 38 in March, Kubiak left no doubt that the Broncos want him to be their quarterback.
“No doubt I want him to be,” Kubiak said. “I think all indications are that, everything he has said and through his conversations with John, he feels good and he has had his self assessment, or however you want to label that, and he feels good about moving forward. So we’ll continue with the process.”
An announcement will probably come sometime soon. Whenever "the process" is completed.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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