Broncos want Manning to take pay cut

If you’re wondering what the holdup has been about Manning’s potential return to Denver, it is in fact all about money. Per CBS Sports’ NFL insider Jason La Confora, the Broncos will want Manning to take a pay cut.

Will Peyton take a pay cut?

Peyton Manning thing is coming down to money. It’s hardly a unanimous notion within the organization that it makes sense for Denver to pay Peyton Manning $19 million coming off last season, with the quarterback’s age and the ability to stay healthy in question. It remains to be seen if Manning would be willing to take a pay cut and do more than just move cap numbers around to best keep the team contending for a Super Bowl. Stay tuned. I suspect they get something done, but that the contract looks different than what was scheduled. I did a little number crunching and looks like Manning has made over $250M in his career in salary alone (not including endorsements, etc). This is the end. It’s time to take a cut. But that hasn’t been how he has been wired.

This isn’t exactly news, this has been the speculated holdup of Manning’s return ever since he told the Broncos of his intentions to play in 2015. As La Confora mentioned, this isn’t something Manning is used to having to do.

Ultimately Peyton has all the leverage here and could call the Broncos bluff, but at this point in his career starting over somewhere else just to make an extra couple of million dollars, might not be worth the headache for the four time NFL MVP.

Any type of contract re-negotiation would likely turn into an extension that would have Denver paying Manning for more years, regardless of how much longer he plays. but would save them money vs the salary cap in the short term. Similar to what the Broncos did with Elway at the end of his career.