In a meeting with Denver Broncos general manager John Elway and other Denver Broncos officials Thursday, quarterback Peyton Manning reportedly let them know he has every intention of playing football in 2015. Manning is due to make $19 million from the Broncos next season.
Manning has been working with trainer Mackie Shilstone in preparation of his upcoming medical evaluations and team physical before the Broncos, or Manning, have to make a decision before the league year begins on March 9. If Manning is on the roster after the 9th, he gets the full $19 million guaranteed in his contract.
With plenty of open cap space, the Broncos could load up the team with big free agents to make one last run at a title with Manning behind center. Manning’s performance suffered towards the end of last season and it was revealed after the Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs that the 17-year veteran had played the final games with a torn quad in his thigh. That injury has reportedly fully healed.
If Manning does return it will be with a new offensive staff as head coach Gary Kubiak and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison will implement more of a West Coast system similar to the one the Broncos won two Super Bowls with in the late 1990s when John Elway was their quarterback.
Jim Harbaugh admits 49ers all but fired him
While the announcement that head coach Jim Harbaugh was parting ways with the San Francisco 49ers was “mutual,” the new head coach of the University of Michigan football team admited Friday it was anything but.
“I was told I wouldn’t be the coach anymore,” Harbaugh told the Mercury News. “You can call it ‘mutual,’ I mean. I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in the position to have a coach that they didn’t want anymore. But that’s the truth of it. I didn’t leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49ers hierarchy left me.”
Under Harbaugh the 49ers went to three straight NFC Championship games, a Super Bowl, and a 44-19 record with two NFC West Championships, but even last offseason there were rumors, that turned out to be true, that the team was looking to send him packing in a trade. Harbaugh hung around for the year and the 49ers finished 8-8, their only non-winning season under Harbaugh.
The 49ers replaced Harbaugh with defensive line coach Jim Tomsula in January.
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Vols linebacker A.J. Johnson uninvited to NFL Combine
One day after he was officially indicted, along with teammate Michael Williams, on rape charges in Knoxville, the NFL has rescinded its invitation to linebacker A.J. Johnson to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Johnson has been suspended from the University of Tennessee football program since he was first arrested in November.
Johnson still has the option to work out for other teams before the draft, but with a rape trial on the horizon it will be interesting to see who shows up to scout him.
Buccaneers reportedly set to draft Marcus Mariota
Regardless of how many mock drafts you’ve seen recently with Jameis Winston as the No. 1 pick (including my last one), it appears the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are prepared to make the safest bet and best call for their team and draft Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota with the No. 1 pick in April’s NFL Draft, according to a report from CBS Sports.
While no one doubted the Bucs wouldn’t pick a QB with the top pick, Thursday’s release of starter Josh McCown all but cinched it.
The NFL Combine begins on Feb. 17 in Indianapolis and Winston is reportedly training hard to put on a good show while the jury is still out on whether Mariota will show up to work out in front of scouts with his fellow potential NFL rookies.
Ndamukong Suh and Adrian Peterson aren’t free agents just yet
Faced with the prospect of losing two of the best players at their positions in free agency, both the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions made overtures Friday to keep their stars in the fold.
For Peterson, who isn’t technically going to be a free agent but was expected to be cut by the Vikings once re-instated in the NFL, the plan may have changed according to Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren.
“I think our organization and individuals in our organization from (owner) Zygi Wilf to Mark Wilf to Coach (Mike Zimmer) to (GM) Rick Spielman, all have made it very clear that they all would welcome Adrian back once he gets all the open items resolved with the league, and I feel the exact same way,”
Suh will be a free agent and, unless the Lions decide to use the franchise tag, will be free to walk. Defensive coordinator Terry Austin isn’t counting on that to happen. Austin, interviewed on the Lions’ website said, “I’m planning on him being back. You can’t get around it. You can sugar coat it or say whatever you want, but he’s a great player. He changed the game.”
It will likely take the biggest contract a defensive lineman has ever received to sign Suh, regardless of where he plays in 2015.
