Should Oliver Luck pull a power play on the Colts?

[KI Skins Fan]

I dunno, I think that the Luck and Manning clans might be working together to get what they want. It seems that Peyton Manning doesn't want Andrew Luck in Indy any more than Luck wants to play behind Manning. Together, the two players could exert powerful leverage on the Colts.

The Colts could be in a bad spot here, for several reasons. First, the Colts owe Peyton a huge bonus before the start of the 2012 League Year, which means that the Colts cannot trade him prior to paying him that bonus. If they were to trade Peyton after they pay him the bonus, they would take huge cap hits for the next two seasons for a star player who isn't even on their roster. It would be unthinkable for the Colts to cut a healthy Manning and get nothing for him, so the bonus is a big problem for the Colts.

The first question might be "What would Peyton want in order to amend his contract to change the due date of his bonus to a date that would allow the Colts to trade him?" If they can work that out with Manning, the Colts might be able to get away with trading him for a king's ransom.

That would clear the way for them to draft Luck, if Luck wants to play in Indy. But Luck could indeed refuse to report to Indy if he is drafted by them and thereby force their hand (See page 1 of the Eli Manning playbook for details). So, it's not unreasonable to think that the Colts may determine that paying Manning and trading out of the #1 spot is in their best interest.

[mbedner3420]

Originally Posted by KI Skins Fan

I dunno, I think that the Luck and Manning clans might be working together to get what they want. It seems that Peyton Manning doesn't want Andrew Luck in Indy any more than Luck wants to play behind Manning. Together, the two players could exert powerful leverage on the Colts.

The Colts could be in a bad spot here, for several reasons. First, the Colts owe Peyton a huge bonus before the start of the 2012 League Year, which means that the Colts cannot trade him prior to paying him that bonus. If they were to trade Peyton after they pay him the bonus, they would take huge cap hits for the next two seasons for a star player who isn't even on their roster. It would be unthinkable for the Colts to cut a healthy Manning and get nothing for him, so the bonus is a big problem for the Colts.

The first question might be "What would Peyton want in order to amend his contract to change the due date of his bonus to a date that would allow the Colts to trade him?" If they can work that out with Manning, the Colts might be able to get away with trading him for a king's ransom.

That would clear the way for them to draft Luck, if Luck wants to play in Indy. But Luck could indeed refuse to report to Indy if he is drafted by them and thereby force their hand (See page 1 of the Eli Manning playbook for details). So, it's not unreasonable to think that the Colts may determine that paying Manning and trading out of the #1 spot is in their best interest.

Not to play conspiracy theorist or anything, but I think you are right that there is some collusion on the part of the Manning and Luck families. This offseason may be more interesting than last summers condensed FA period due to this story alone (and the fact that the Skins have been linked to both players).