Amid talk that some NFL teams will court Peyton Manning so aggressively that they’re willing to sign him without watching him throw, now comes a radio report saying the Kansas City Chiefs have already offered Manning a contract.
Radio host Brandon Spano reports that the Chiefs were the first team to formally offer Manning a contract, making him the offer on Thursday, the day after his release from the Colts became official.
At the moment this is just one radio report that hasn’t been confirmed elsewhere, but it fits a growing narrative that the Chiefs’ interest is real. Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel went right up to the tampering line, and may have even crossed the line, by gushing about Manning even before the Colts released him, and the Chiefs reportedly contacted Manning shortly after it became permissible within league rules.
The Chiefs are an intriguing option. They weren’t far from the playoffs last year in the weak AFC West and have a good chance of being better this year, considering that arguably their two most talented players, Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry, played a combined total of three games last year. Manning would like to have a receiver like Dwayne Bowe, and the Chiefs are in relatively good salary cap shape, good enough that they should be able to give Manning a healthy contract and still have room to bolster the roster elsewhere as needed.
We don’t know for sure that the Chiefs have actually sent Manning a contract and are simply waiting on him to put pen to paper, but it certainly does sound like the Chiefs are one team that will aggressively pursue the biggest free agent of the year.