Peter King, Mike Mayock think Peyton Manning will return

Denver Broncos fans have been waiting with bated breath for the announcement whether Peyton Manning is coming back to Denver in 2015. Frankly, they're running out of breath.

If they trust Sports Illustrated's Peter King or the NFL Network's Mike Mayock, they can exhale. Both expect The Sheriff to come back in 2015.

Peter King on Peyton Manning -

3. I think the odds of Peyton Manning returning to the Broncos increased from 65 percent to 85 percent the other day, when Manning met with GM John Elway and, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, told Elway he wants to play in 2015.

4. I think the Broncos definitely want Manning back for 2015. Take that to the bank. John Elway knows Denver's best chance to go deep in the playoffs in 2015 is with Manning at quarterback. Elway and the Broncos might quietly rattle some sabers about lowering Manning's salary in 2015. Now, if they want to lower Manning's cap number, that would be easy to do-by putting, for example, some of his $19 million salary in a guaranteed bonus. But to me, Manning making $21.5 million on the Denver cap-15 percent of the Broncos' 2015 total cap-is not excessive. And if I were Elway, I wouldn't push very much into 2016 or beyond, knowing this very well could be Manning's last season in Denver. You don't want to carry a lot of dead money that will hurt your ability to manage a cap well down the road.

Quick take: King takes the rumors that the Broncos might not want Manning back head-on, and it makes sense. John Elway wants a Super Bowl. Peyton gives him the best chance.

Mike Mayock on Peyton Manning -

"The Peyton thing is interesting," said Mayock. "I'm anxious to get to the Manning academy in July and watch him rip it a little bit once he's healthy.

"I believe that there's only probably 10 or 12 quarterbacks in the league where you bang the table and say you could win a Super Bowl with that guy. He's always been one of them obviously.

"Does he have the arm strength he had seven, eight, nine years ago? Of course not. He throws with more anticipation and timing than anybody in football.

"So I would suspect, if he made the commitment to come back, that he'd be ready to play at a high level again. I'd be surprised if he didn't," Mayock said.

Quick take: Mayock points out that Manning is all timing these days. A lot of that - seemingly more than in the past - comes from Manning's pre-snap reads of the defense as opposed to analysis after the snap. Maybe a reconfigured o-line will help alleviate that; Mayock talks about some right tackle prospects as it relates to the Broncos in the link.