Monday, March 19, 2012

Peyton Manning chooses Denver

Peyton Manning will trade the horseshoe for the horse.

The four-time MVP informed Denver VP of football operations John Elway of his decision to join the Broncos on Monday morning, per AP.

Manning apparently called the 49ers and Titans, the other teams vying for his services, earlier in the day to inform them of the verdict.

"I was hoping we would win out,'' Titans owner Bud Adams told The Tennessean. "I thought we'd be ahead of Denver. I thought he'd want to stay in Tennessee.

"I want to thank the whole organization for their efforts in trying to sign Peyton and also to Peyton for the time he put into the process. Peyton called me this morning to inform me of his decision and obviously I am disappointed, because I thought we would be a perfect fit."

It's been widely assumed Manning, who turns 36 Saturday, will sign a deal similar (if not exceeding) the five-year, $90 million package he inked with the Colts (who released him March 7) last July. He and Patriots QB Tom Brady topped the NFL with pacts that averaged $18 million annually.

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So now a new guessing game begins: Where will Tebow land? The short answer is that none of us knows at this point. But since that's neither sexy nor interesting to a news cycle that must be fed by the hour, if not the minute, let's explore some of the options:

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[3/21/12] Tim Tebow traded from Broncos to Jets (that was fast)

[3/21/12] Alex Smith stays with the 49ers

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