The $28 million bonus that quarterback Peyton Manning was set to receive this season is not an investment, or risk, the Indianapolis Colts are willing to pay for. According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Jim Irsay will officially announce on Wednesday that the Colts will release Manning into free agency, where he can sign with any team he wishes. Manning, who has been with the Colts organization for all 14 of his professional years in the league, will become available for bidding on March 13.
Before having four surgeries on his neck over the past year and a half, Manning had started every single game of every season he played in and had a passer rating of 90.0 or above in 10 of those seasons. The 36-year-old has amassed over 54,000 yards in his career and sits at 399 touchdowns thrown. He fully plans to continue playing and was recently spotted at Duke running through aggressive throwing drills, proving that his progress is going well. The real test, however, will be how he does in full-contact drills.
With the news of his release comes the automatic confirmation that Indy will be choosing either Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Let the rebuilding officially begin.
[via ESPN]
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