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According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is expected to make his decision on whether he will retire or return to the Broncos sometime next week.
Peyton Manning expected to make his decision next week http://t.co/Mi5rxFLu0G
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 13, 2015
Mortensen who has long had accurate information regarding Peyton Manning says that the future Hall Of Fame quarterback is close to being ready to announce his return.
Mortensen appeared on ESPN earlier today and had this to say about Manning.
"I would be surprised if we don’t have some type of word next week some time," Mortensen said on ESPN. "That’s when I would expect that we would have word, officially, that Peyton is going to play football."
In the meantime, it is expected that Manning will have an exam on his surgically-repaired neck before making his final decision about returning in 2015. ESPN's Jeff Legwold reported yesterday that Manning will undergo this exam in the coming weeks. Legwold goes on to say that both the Broncos and Manning are interested in this information before making a final decision. The Broncos want to know if their soon to be 39-year old quarterback is healthy before they fully guarantee his 19 million dollar salary for 2015.
Interesting quote from @mortreport on NFL Insiders just now regarding Peyton Manning playing in 2015. pic.twitter.com/BSTc0LY8Tw
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 13, 2015
Mortensen seems pretty confident that Manning will be returning to the Broncos in 2015. On NFL Insiders, he said that Manning has his "heart, his mind, his spirit and his body ready to play in 2015".
So unless Manning does not pass his physical it appears that he will be officially returning to the Denver Broncos next season(or until another report pops up saying otherwise).
Go Broncos!
Update:
Chris Mortensen appeared on Sportscenter this evening and gave some more information surrounding Peyton Manning's decision.
Peyton Manning told Broncos officials that he is physically & mentally ready to play in 2015 " http://t.co/vmLkkyKSeU pic.twitter.com/EoDaImPxIE
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 13, 2015
According to Mortensen, Manning reassured Broncos General Manager John Elway and CEO Joe Ellis that he is physically and mentally prepared to play at a significant level in 2015.
Manning has been working with performance manager and trainer, Mackie Shilstone, and he gave Manning a strong assessment based on numerous workouts and tests.
Mortensen also says that the Broncos and Manning could explore a potential contract restructuring. The Broncos do have an estimated 26 million dollars in cap space for 2015, and about 50 million dollars of cap space for 2016, but will need all the money possible to re-sign their players plus adding players through free agency this offseason.