Peyton Manning has been rumoured to join the New York Jets, if and when he gets released from the Indianapolis Colts. For his part the star quarterback has not ruled out a move East.
Manning says he has no plans to retire and that his recovery from neck surgery is on schedule.
“I really feel good. I continue to make progress every day,” Manning said. “Everything that the doctors have told me has been on point, which is encouraging to me.
“When am I going to retire? Hard to say, hard to say. There’s no set timetable. I’ve played a long time. I’m grateful for the time that I’ve played so far and I have nothing to complain about. How much longer? We’ll see.”
January was a tumultuous month for the Colts and Manning’s future casted a shadow over Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI, the first in Indianapolis. Most of the New England Patriots and New York Giants players said they were not paying attention to speculation that Manning’s career could be over.
The Jets meanwhile have grabbed headlines after a lackluster season led to rumours swirling over the replacement of QB Mark Sanchez. Team owner Woody Johnson fuelled critics by stating the door is open for another hurler to join the fold.
The whole notion of Manning’s future with the Colts being in doubt has been at the fore since team owner Jim Irsay started publicly wavering on whether to pay $28 million to retain the star quarterback months ago.
After recent public spats between Manning and Irsay, the two have issued joint statements in hopes of slowing down publicity. Manning reiterates that he expects to sit down with Irsay at some point to decide his future. “I think the sooner the better, I really do. Jim and I talk constantly, we do. We’re in constant communication, we’ll do it and we’ll make a good plan from there. Either way, it’s going to be good. I’m at peace and it’ll be a positive thing, I assure you.”
The 35-year-old began throwing in December after the fused vertebrae in his neck healed as expected, but he has not shown any improvement in the velocity of his passes. Further, two league-affiliated doctors told Irsay that it could take a year before Manning is able to return and they recommended his release.
With Manning sidelined for the entire 2011 season, the Colts finished 2-14 and will select first in April’s draft. Most expect the team to select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with that top pick.
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