Peyton Manning Is Not Coming to the Vikings. So Stop It.

I know it’s a cool talker and everything – that explains why Bob Sansevere did a whole paragraph about it – but the Peyton Manning-to-Minnesota stuff is just absurd. Do I even need to list the reasons why? It should be obvious to even the most delusional of fans why this topic is totally off-the-rails nuts. In case you’re hazy I’ll do a rundown. And it won’t take long:

1. Peyton Manning wants nothing to do with a rebuilding team at this point in his career. He wants to win now.

2. The Vikings promoted Rick Spielman to GM so he could bring the long-term vision that was lacking in previous years when instead of identifying and developing a young QB the team just grabbed for whatever low-hanging veteran fruit was available. Spielman’s job is to assemble pieces around Christian Ponder (or Joe Webb if it comes to that), not offer contracts to aging guys with dead arms.

I know what the comeback is. “Bringing in Manning wouldn’t necessarily mean giving up on Ponder. You could sign Peyton to an incentive-laden contract and let Ponder learn from him.” I respond by referring you to item #1 above. Peyton doesn’t want anything to do with being a mentor for some young QB on a rebuilding team! He wants to walk into a situation where he can win immediately. Basically, he’s looking for what Brett Favre was when Favre dislodged himself from the Packers. A soft landing spot. A shot to go back to the Super Bowl. An opportunity to pad his stats. And perhaps most important of all, a chance to prove his doubters wrong.

Minnesota provides none of the above. And even if it did, they’ve committed themselves to Ponder. Plus they have Joe Webb who is a more-than-capable back-up. They don’t need to pick up an old veteran QB, even one they can get at a reduced rate like Peyton. They drafted Ponder so they could once-and-for-all get off the QB merry-go-round. And some people want them to climb back on just cause it’s Peyton? Don’t get it. Just don’t get it.

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