Titans owner Bud Adams was adamant that he wanted Peyton Manning to finish his career in Tennessee, and also join the franchise’s front office after retirement. So Adams took the news hard when Manning said today that he’s heading to Denver.
But Adams, in a statement released by the team, says the Titans have a lot to be optimistic about moving forward.
“I want to thank the whole organization for their efforts in trying to sign Peyton and also to Peyton for the time he put into the process,” Adams said in the statement. “Peyton called me this morning to inform me of his decision and obviously I am disappointed, because I thought we would be a perfect fit.
“Now that we move forward, I want our fans to know that our expectations haven’t changed – winning a championship is still the goal. I like our quarterback situation moving forward and we will continue to build the team through free agency and the draft with that goal in mind.
“I also want to commend Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker. They were thrown into a very difficult situation. Matt was very good for us last year; and at some point, we expect Jake to be our future franchise quarterback.”
Publicly, Adams is trying to put the most positive spin on this that he can. Privately, Adams may be flipping Manning a double bird. And Hasselbeck may have similar feelings toward Adams.