Cardinals Being in NFC Did Not Cost them Peyton Manning

Sure, we all know the Arizona Cardinals lost out on Peyton Manning.  We all know he signed with the Denver Broncos last week after visits with them, the Cards, the Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49’ers.  The Seattle Seahawks even tried to get in on the action.  Most people assumed he picked Denver because they sat in the AFC.  Rumor was Manning did not want to sign with an NFC team in order to avoid playing against his brother Eli Manning from the New York Giants.  Not true.  Complete myth.

Many “experts” thought they had the scoop.  They all thought they “knew” about Manning’s situation.  According to Manning himself, he said he never eliminated playing for an NFC team.  In fact, he said the NFC factor was never well, a factor.  Shows you what people thought they knew and didn’t know.

He said visiting teams in the NFC should have been a sign he was not against playing in the NFC.  He considered San Francisco strongly in the end.  The Cards were losers in the chase simply because they had to make a decision on Kevin Kolb.  Period.

The Cards had the money ready.  They cleared the cap space.  They just didn’t fit Manning’s timeline.  Manning signed with the Broncos three days after Kolb was granted his roster bonus of $7 million.  Denver, in the end, was the best fit for him and not because they were an AFC team.