Colts owner Jim Irsay has put the ball back in Peyton Manning’s court as the public relations battle between the team and player continues.
“We can make it work if he wants to be here,’’ Irsay said of Manning Tuesday. “We’d be excited to have him back and finish his career with us.
“I want him to be able to make the choice. We would love to have him back here if he can get healthy and we can look at doing a contract that reflects the uncertainty of the . . . healing process with the regeneration of the nerve.”
Irsay is making the Colts look like the good guys in this negotiation. They’re not going to pay Peyton his $28 million option bonus on March 8. If they do offer him a contract, it likely won’t be for much money.
Considering the Colts are planning to draft Andrew Luck (or another quarterback), Peyton likely wouldn’t be willing to share the position when he could go to another team where they’d love to have him. This was a wise public statement by Irsay.
