Report: Cardinals eliminated selves from Peyton Manning sweepstakes
Sep 10, 2012, 3:10 AM | Updated: 4:24 am
Back in March, when the Arizona Cardinals were pursuing free agent quarterback Peyton Manning, they were working against a bit of a deadline.
March 16 was the day they had to decide whether or not to pay Kevin Kolb a $7 million roster bonus. Pay the man, and you keep him for the next season. Don’t pay him, and he becomes a free agent.
And if he became a free agent without the Cards landing Manning?
That was a risk they were apparently not willing to take, even though they may have had a good chance to sign the eventual Denver Bronco.
According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Manning never told the Cardinals they were out of the running. In fact, quite the contrary. The Cardinals, though, decided they couldn’t chance it.
Manning wasn’t prepared to make a decision then, but sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that the Cardinals likely would have contended with the Denver Broncos, the team he chose three days later.
Wow.
It has to be disappointing to read that the Cardinals actually may have been able to sign Manning had they just given him more time, though it’s worth noting that few could have predicted Kolb would struggle like he has.
And while Manning would absolutely be an improvement for the Cardinals, there was no guarantee he was set to join Big Red.
And the Cardinals, apparently, couldn’t wait around to find out.
