With all the talk about the longevity of a soon-to-be 37-year-old quarterback who has played only for the Patriots, it’s easy to overlook the question of how long a 38-year-old signal-caller will continue to shout “Omaha” in Colorado.
Mike Klis of the Denver Post takes a look at the expected duration of Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning’s career, pegging the number at three more years, through the 2016 season. That would take Manning through the full five years of the contract he signed in 2012.
“Anytime you sign a five-year contract -- it’s really five one-year deals in many ways -- I think that needs to be your goal,” Manning said, via Klis. “The team made plans to where they want a quarterback for this long so they can then fill spots here and there. That’s what you try to do. You understand that when you get to this age — and John [Elway] understands.”
Manning is due to make $15 million this year and $19 million per year in 2015 and 2016. The cap numbers are $19.5 million this year and $21.5 million in each of the last two years.
With the salary cap jumping up by $10 million this year and expected to keep increasing at a similar rate, the Broncos should be able to easily absorb those numbers and pay those amounts for the next three years.
That doesn’t mean Manning will be done after he finishes the fifth year of his Denver contract. By then, the 41-year-old may decide to go elsewhere. And without nearly enough good quarterbacks to go around, someone would surely want him.