If the Colts lose ... Would you consider trading Peyton Manning?

I would fire Dungy and then trade for Gruden...

Manning has been a poor big-game player throughout his college and pro careers, but people were saying the same thing about John Elway. After a couple titles, that were largely due to the addition of Terrell Davis, he walked away from the game widely considered one of the best ever...

 

That's because the goalposts keep moving.

"Big game" is only a big game if he loses . . . or doesn't put up 62 points. If he wins, it's "well, we'll see what he does in the 'big game' next week." So until he wins a Super Bowl, he'll never live up to your demands, regardless of how many "big games" he wins that aren't Super Bowls.

In 1995 at Florida he put up 30 --- count 'em, 30 --- points in the first half. Second half? Two fumbles by the tailback, a missed chip-shot FG and a Gator air show that won 62-37.

The legacy? "Can't beat Florida." I expect that from fanboys. Disappointing to see it carries over to "journalists" who should know better.

In 1997 he overcame five lost fumbles by his teammates and won the SEC Championship Game . . . a pretty big game.

Most NFL playoff games are "big games", and he has had a QB rating of 150 three times in 10 playoff games. But until he does it four straight weeks . . . he'll be dogged. Any QB rating under 100 is considered shitty.

Ben Roethlisberger had a QB rating in the 30s in the Super Bowl. But nobody accuses Big Ben of not being able to play well in big games.

It's remarkable what only needing to score 10 points can do for a quarterback's reputation. Heck, it put Bob Griese into the Hall of Fame.

 

So it's Manning's fault that the Colts can't manage the cap better?

 

Well put. Though Roethlisberger did makes big plays while avoiding mistakes for three straight weeks before his collapse in the Super Bowl -- 123 average rating, 68.1 percent completions, 680 yards, 7 TDs and only one INT, so he played well going into the big game.

 

The cap is a valid reason why they shouldn't. And if it wasn't for the cap, I would think the Colts would give this option some serious thought.

 

1) As has been stated previously, the NFL's hard cap makes it unlikely that Manning will be traded.

2) The Raiders have so many holes on offense, it doesn't make sense for them to trade what little chips they have for Manning.

 

Actually, I think the Colts would laugh uproariously at the thought of trading Manning, as well they should. There aren't more than a handful of decent QBs out there, and they're going to trade the most prolific one there is, the one who leads them to a dozen wins every year, because he hasn't won a Super Bowl yet? Ridiculous. The only way they would trade Manning is if they wanted to fall back into the 7-9/9-7 mass of mediocrity with the rest of the NFL. Cap or no cap.

 

Exactly. If they trade Manning they have who, Jim Sorgi and that's it?

They could trade for a quarterback like Mike Vick or Matt Schaub or Byron Leftwich, but they would lose draft picks that could help the defense. OK, so maybe that wouldn't help the Colts so much.

They could work free agency and take in retreads like Drew Bledsoe, Patrick Ramsey or Aaron Brooks, but those guys are not exactly suited to lead Super Bowl teams now. OK, so maybe that wouldn't help the Colts so much.

They could draft someone and hope he becomes the next Ben Roethlisberger or Vince Young, but they could also become the next Eli Manning or J.P. Losman. OK, so maybe that wouldn't help the Colts so much.

Anyone who actually believes that the Colts would be a better team -- or believes that they would improve their chances to win Super Bowls -- without Manning is crazy.

 

Well, if someone were to offer a Herschel Walker-like trade . . .


. . . but nobody does that stuff anymore. Ditka came the closest with his Ricky Williams stunt.

 

Isn't asking should the Colts trade Manning in the salary cap era sort of like asking why didn't the Dolphins trade Marino in the pre-salary cap era? Marino was a prolific passer but only got to the Super Bowl once and lost.

As others have stated the Colts problem the last few seasons has been the D, which is ironic considering that when he was with Tampa Bay Dungy was considered a great coach of the defense. Until the Colts get some cap relief on O (getting Manning on Harrison to take a pay cut) to bring in some studs on D, they're not going to the Super Bowl.

 

Thanks for the painful reminder (the Walker deal that is).

 

Aside from all the on-field and salary cap reasons, Indianapolis is opening a new stadium in 2008. Not going to sell very many suites and PSLs if you trade away the face of the franchise who takes you to the playoffs and throws for 4,000 yards every year.