The Indianapolis Colts announced today that they will not be picking up quarterback Peyton Manning’s option for the 2012-13 NFL season.  Manning played 14 seasons for the Colts before a neck injury forced him to miss the entire 2011-12 NFL season. The Colts went on to finish with the worst record in football leaving them with the first pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

This move does not come as a total shock, since there are two potential superstar quarterbacks available in this year’s draft.  The Colts are now certain to take either Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III.  All the experts seem to agree that Luck will be the one drafted first and he will immediately be asked to fill the shoes of one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.  It is unclear if the Colts are making this decision because they are concerned with Manning’s recovery or if they are just that confident in one of the available quarterbacks ability to acclimate quickly to the NFL.

As the Colts start rebuilding around a new quarterback, some other team is going to get a 4-time NFL MVP.  There is definitely not going to be any shortage of interest from practically every team in the league.  I expect the Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, and Tennessee Titans to make a big push to get Manning’s services.  As more and more “secret” videos start popping up showing Manning throwing bombs to all parts of the field, more and more General Managers and Head Coaches will start dropping hints about how exciting it would be to sign Peyton Manning.

Personally, I am just happy that Peyton Manning’s comeback is what we will all be talking about this NFL off-season as opposed to endless news and speculation about Brett Favre.