Early this morning, before all hell broke loose in Jacksonville and Indianapolis, I was preparing to write a post on Bill Polian’s comments from his radio show Monday night.
A few hours later, Polian’s remarks remain compelling. And they will ultimately matter a lot more to the future of the Colts franchise than the decision to fire Larry Coyer as defensive coordinator.
Colts vice chairman Bill Polian said on the show via Stampede Blue that “of course you can” have Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning on the same team next year.
Polian has hinted around at this notion, but he’s never made the case so strongly. Polian pointed towards the new salary structure for first round picks making it feasible. He also mentioned Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers being on the same team for three years.
Polian said the team won’t make any decisions on a draft pick until April 2012, but Luck is “one of” the players they could potentially take.
Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star disagrees, but we think keeping Manning and drafting Luck makes a lot of sense.
You have to take a franchise quarterback like Luck if you believe he’s the future. You also can’t count on Manning staying healthy for one game at this point, much less a few years.
Manning has earned the right to continue his career with the Colts, if there is a career. What’s the worst that could happen from keeping both players?
It would be a very good problem to have two franchise quarterbacks if Manning somehow survived 2012 healthy and looking like the same old Peyton Manning.