Manning has the money but not the resources

Sporting News, The, March 15, 2004 by Dan Pompei

Peyton Manning and the Colts were all smiles last week, and they should smile while they can. Now that Manning and the Colts have a $98 million commitment between them, it will become increasingly difficult for the team to remain one of the league's best.

I'm certain G.M. Bill Polian will continue to draft well and make shrewd decisions, that coach Tony Dungy will continue to teach his players well and use them to the best of their abilities, and that Manning will continue to prepare and play like a champion. But the system will eat away at the Colts the way a closet full of moths eats away at a collection of wool sweaters.

Manning's signing bonus of $34.5 million will mean the always cash-poor Colts won't have much money to sign other players this year. In subsequent years, Manning's landmark contract will take up an inordinate amount of the Colts' salary-cap space, and that will leave less for other players.

Already, the Colts have cut a number of players who have been contributors, including starting cornerback Walt Harris, defensive end Chad Bratzke, fullback Detron Smith, offensive lineman Adam Meadows and backup quarterback Brock Huard. These players may have been cut regardless of Manning's contract, but the fact remains that the Colts need to replace them with players who will cost less. They also lost free agent Marcus Washington, their starting strongside linebacker, to the Redskins.

"You can still field a competitive team, but it can't be as good as it was" one NFC general manager says. "Things can only get worse. That's the real issue."

If he has lesser players around him, Manning will be less effective. Yet more will be expected of him.

You have to wonder if Manning will have Marvin Harrison to throw to after this season. Harrison's contract will expire next March, and he isn't going to be any easier to sign after seeing Manning's blockbuster numbers.

From a salary-cap standpoint, Manning won't tax his team too much this season or next, when his cap hits will be $8.3 million and $8.4 million. But in 2006, there will be problems in Coltsville because his cap number shoots up to $17.7 million. The next year, it's $14.7 million, the year after $15.2 million, then $17.7 million and $15.8 million.

The contract probably will have to be redone to provide cap relief, perhaps as soon as 2006. But at some point, the Colts will have to answer for Manning's deal. The credit-card mentality--buy now, pay later--is popular in many NFL front offices.

We've listened to much chatter about how teams have been able to win with quarterbacks who weren't high-round picks. But that talk is missing the point. It is not about where these quarterbacks came from as much as it is about how little these quarterbacks are costing their teams compared with QBs on other teams.

The cap numbers of the quarterbacks in the Super Bowl last month enabled their teams to spread the wealth. Tom Brady counted only $3.3 million against the Patriots' cap, and lake Delhomme's figure for the Panthers was $1.78 mill.

Other recent Super Bowl winners followed a similar pattern. In 1999, Kurt Warner's cap figure for the Rams was $753,000. In 2000, Trent Dilfer counted $1 million against the Ravens' cap. Brady's salary-cap number was $315,000 in 2001.

These figures underscore the team concept the Patriots have executed so brilliantly. "The Patriots have done a good job of showing people there's another way to do it," Bills general manager Tom Donahoe says. "Whether everybody has bought into that or accepts that, everybody has their own philosophy."

It's about to become more difficult for the architects of the model. Brady's cap number springs up to $8.3 million this year. It's the price of success.

When a quarterback deserves to be paid, there really isn't much the team can do except cough it up. Letting Manning sign elsewhere would have been disastrous. Homer Simpson could have figured that one out. "You can't recover if you let him go," the NFC general manager says. "Inside and outside the building, the loss of credibility is too hard to overcome."

You can't blame Manning or Tom Condon, his agent, for holding the gun to the Colts' horseshoe. Manning is a rare talent, maybe the best player in the game. He gives the Colts as much in the locker room, in the meeting room, on the practice field and in the community as he does on the field. He represents everything that's good about the NFL.

"Peyton Manning is a great player," Donahoe says. "But you still have to have a team. Peyton by himself isn't going to be as effective as Peyton with a good offensive line, good running back, good receivers, good defense. It's really not fair for me to tell Indianapolis they should do this or that, and I'm not, but you can't get to the point where you're giving everything to one guy. It's still a team sport."

A lot of general managers, if they were starting a team and could pick any player first, would pick Manning. But they'd like to pick some other players to go with him.

SPEED READS