Tebow and Manning shake up the NFL
March 27, 2012
Do you hear the buzz? With the NFL trade deadline rapidly approaching, many significant trades have occurred throughout the league that are grasping peoples’ attention.
Trades like Packers quarterback Matt Flynn going to the Seahawks, Brandon Marshall of the Dolphins moving to the Bears to play in the windy city and Mario Williams signing on with the Buffalo Bills have the media buzzing around the country.
And of course we can’t forget the most recent trade, which has everyone talking—Manning to the Denver Broncos, Tebow to the New York Jets.
The Broncos are saying farewell to Tebowmania and welcoming in Peyton Manning as their quarterback. On Monday, after intense negotiations with Broncos executive director John Elway, Manning signed a five-year, $98 million contract with the team.
There have been players such as Michael Vick, who have received $100 million contracts, yet Manning may never receive one while he is a player in the NFL. Even Manning’s enormous contract with the Indianapolis Colts wasn’t paid out due to early trade.
Peyton Manning is said to be among the most elite quarterbacks and players to ever participate in the NFL, not to mention the best free agent ever in the league. Yet, others question if he is worth five more years after four neck surgeries due to nerve damage, and continual reoccurring shoulder injuries over the past few years.
Manning does have a lot to offer to the Denver Broncos from leadership, resourcefulness, unequaled work ethic, star power, brain power and drawing power to the franchise. Manning will come in to the Broncos with big goals and will want to start building a foundation to work the team up to a super bowl.
Other teams may have come close, but ultimately missed out on Peyton Manning. There were words about Manning going to the San Francesco 49ers, or possibly getting traded to the Tennessee Titans or the Miami Dolphins. With Peyton Manning signing with the Broncos, does this mean the Tebow era in Denver is all but over?
Tebowmania is now heading to the New York Jets. A handful of other teams were reportedly interested in Tim Tebow, but the question of how he would fit into their offenses was always the case at hand. The question with Tebow’s trade was also the big question when he came out of college: Will he stay a quarterback or consider a position change?
The Broncos agreed to trade Tebow and a seventh-round choice in the upcoming NFL draft to the Jets for draft selections in the fourth and sixth rounds. The Jets will also pay the Broncos a total of $2.53 million over two years with $1.5 million to come in 2012 and the rest in 2013.
Tim Tebow was seen as a very useful and viable option for the New York Jets because of the Jets’ new offensive coordinator, Tony Sparano, interests in utilizing Wildcat formations that mesh with Tebow’s skill sets. Tebow could be a big asset to the Jets team.
Tebowmania is transferring to New York and will, more than likely, have the same effect with the Jets as it did with the Broncos. By acquiring Tebow, the Jets also gained a spiritual motivational leader who will have an effect not only on his teammates but also his fans.
So the question is—who will have more fan support: Peyton in the 2012-2013 season, or Tebow at the Broncos during 2011-2012?