With every snippet of information that comes out, we get another glimpse of how weird this offseason was for the Broncos and quarterback Peyton Manning.
According to longtime beat writer Mike Klis of 9 News in Denver, the Broncos “were never letting Peyton Manning go.”
They did, however, ask him to take a $10 million pay cut, a huge gap from the $4 million they eventually arm-twisted out of him.
Frankly, the fact Manning didn’t tell John Elway to stick his horseshoe somewhere is probably a sign that Manning valued inertia more than the Broncos did. While he may not be the quarterback he once was, he’s still Peyton Manning, and lopping off more than half his salary is something you don’t do unless you’re prepared for him to walk.
Obviously it was a starting point in a negotiation, but the fact they went so hard after his money is still amazing.