I always knew that guy was ***!

That's interesting. Essentially saying the Colts won't even bother trying to sign him as an FA at a more reasonable price.

Would would they? They'll have Andrew Luck.

Probably because Luck will be a rookie with an awful supporting cast. Why throw him out there to get beat up and down?

I'd sign a veteran and let him take the hits while the Colts build up the team and Luck learns the playbook.

Lol yeah i remember in mock drafts at the start of the year when the chiefs were picking first all the chiefs fans were happy they were sucking for luck.

Yeah a veteran but not Peyton Manning. Firstly, why would Manning want to come back and secondly, why would the Colts waste a good amount of money on a player they just cut and had to pay loads of money to do so. Especially when you have Luck who will be ready to start from the get go.

It would have been far more beneficial to Lucks growth as a pro to sit behind Manning and learn.

Sitting highly drafted rookie QBs for any significant amount of time rarely happens anymore.

I did a write up about it in the draft section and rookie QBs drafted in the first two rounds start at least 8 games as rookies like 75% of the time anymore. It's crazy.

There is no sit and learn period anymore for most them. This idea is out of date.

It worked for Carson Palmer!... sort of.

But it shouldn't be. I literally have had NO idea why teams decide to just throw rookie QBs to the wolves, and then when they obviously get ripped to shreds and don't produce after two seasons they move on. If youre investing in a guy actually invest in developing "your" guy.

But not beneficial to the Colts. They would be paying a ton of money to a player they dont even need. Most teams drafting #1 have bad situations for the QB to go into but you just have to hope he will be smart enough to learn the system and adjust to playing in the NFL. Luck is definitely smart and talented enough to do that.

It did until his knee went, then the OL went and he got beat to hell.

The knee injury + Rich Braham retiring + not drafting/signing a NFL caliber LG = what Palmer became

We can sit and list exceptions if you want, but my list of guys who didn't sit as rookies is going to be about 4 times as long.

And there seems to be a 50/50 shot of the rookie succeeding whether he sits or starts right away. Certain players would probably have benefited more from sitting or starting right away, (or retiring after college...looking at you Blaine Gabbert...) but it still seems to even out to about a 50/50 shot.

You're talking about Peyton? The Colts need Peyton. Andrew Luck is a highly touted prospect, but he is a rookie. No one knows how that will turn out.

Bottom line is if he's good enough he'll do it. We've seen it with Cam Newton, Andy Dalton last year and neither of them are as talented or smart as Luck.

It's sad that we know this, but Irsay doesn't know this. There was a way to work this Peyton situation out so he stayed in Indy, but they chose not to go about doing that.

I think it's fan, media and front office pressure. You, me and anyone with a pair of eyes knows that Blaine Gabbert should never have been anywhere near the field last year. But Luke McCown was horrible and the Jaguars sucked and in order to keep fans buying tickets to come to the games, the coaches had to make a change in order to give people hope.

If you just sit there and suck for a year with a veteran QB, you're going to get blasted by the media and the fans. That could cost you your job as a coach even faster than having the rookie QB never develop at all.

With today's 24/7 sports media and fans who are more informed than ever, you can't get away with it anymore.

The only chance you have is if your veteran keeps you competitive like Hasselbeck did for the Titans last year. If at some point last year they found themselves several games under .500 and our of playoff competition, I guaran-*******-tee you that Jake Locker plays.

If the Colts needed Peyton Manning he wouldnt be getting released. I'd probably say its riskier going for Peyton actually. With his injury you dont know what's gonna happen after he gets hit hard for the first time.

You mean to tell me Leaf didn't blow the NFL up?

YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!

But seriously I agree with you, you play to make money at this point. As a true fan I'm just saying I would rather my guy sit and learn rather than possibly cripple his career or not even give him a chance.

Some people forget that though. They see first overall pick and a big prospect like Luck and feel like a HoF QB is a luxury. It isn't. Luck COULD be another Ryan Leaf, and a lot of people are just fine ignoring it.

It's a business at the end of the day after all.

There is clearly examples of both options with rookie QB's. Palmer, Romo, Rodgers all sat for at least a year and learned the game. Then guys like Ryan, Newton, Dalton all benefited from the experience of playing from day 1. It seems to just comes down to the individuals. Clearly throwing Peyton to the Wolves going 3-13 didn't hurt him at all. So if the Colts feel Luck can benefit from playing, he will start day 1.

Couldn't agree more, actually that was my point haha. No one knows where Luck will be in a few years. To assume he is going to give you Peyton again right from the start is ridiculous.
I know, I understand this. As I stated this is just the fan in me talking, the one that would rather sit through some tough seasons to help bring along the future of the team rather than drafting/trading for guys every few seasons because my starter doesn't win me a superbowl.

Im not saying Luck is definitely going to be a HOF QB but i'd rather start Luck from the start and release Manning than keep paying Manning loads of money. Luck could sit behind Manning but how much is it actually going to improve his game. If there was ever a QB to start from the get go it would be Luck.

Also if you pay Manning you would have less money to improve the team around Luck for the future and you would have higher draft picks so you wouldn't be able to improve the team as much through the draft.

Yes, but you're a long term, hard core fan. The NFL give very little of a **** about you. The NFL makes 95% of it's money from casual fans and bandwagoners. To keep those people interested and to continuing giving the NFL their money, you can't afford 2-3 years of sucking while you wait for the perfect time to plug in that young QB.

And if your team is sucking with some washed up veteran, you're going to lose their attention.