Agent says Peyton Manning wanted to play in 2016, teams wanted him

Peyton Manning suiting up for a team other than the Denver Broncos in 2016? It was closer than you might think to happening, according to Manning's agent.

"I really like to play," Manning told Tom Condon, as Condon related on The Business of Sports with Andrew Brandt (via PFT). Not only that, Condon said, there were teams who would have wanted Manning to play for them. (The teams leading the speculation at the time were the Texans and the Rams.)

So why isn't some team rolling out an entire Peyton Manning-themed campaign for this fall? Probably because of the obvious reasons: Manning was a shell of his former self by the end of 2015, and won the Super Bowl largely because he was a decent caretaker rather than a game-changing playmaker.

Look at it from the team's perspective. Would you be willing to risk tens of millions, and a starting job, for a quarterback who could be reduced to crumbs by the kinds of rushes and linebackers that dominate the NFL these days? Would you be willing to press pause on a team's forward movement, or pass up a quarterback for the future (see: the Rams and Jared Goff) for a one- or two-year Hail Mary on Manning? The sad truth is that Manning wasn't fit any longer for a full-time starting QB gig, and teams weren't willing to commit that job to him. Hence, Manning took the calmer, less lucrative, but more health-conscious route of retirement.

Manning announced on Tuesday that he would not be appearing as a commentator on any NFL broadcasts this fall, but other than that (and, well, playing), the road opens wide before Manning. Coaching, business, even just kicking back and watching as a fan ... it's all open to him. Nice position to be in.

"Legacy" is a game that the media and fans play, a game that really doesn't mean much of anything in the grand analysis of a player's arc. If Manning played for the Texans this year, the Browns next, and the Chargers the year after that, would that have any impact on his legacy? Only in the narrow-minded. Manning has secured his place in the game, the way Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods did in theirs, and no on-field missteps would have changed that. For the sake of his neck, and for the sake of ardent fanbases expecting he would vault them to a Super Bowl, though, it's probably better that he's staying in the bleachers.