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Yesterday the Denver Broncos and John Fox "mutually agreed to part ways." In other words, Fox was fired by John Elway and crew. That means there is about to be a new regime in Denver. That puts Peyton Manning in an interesting spot with the Broncos.
On one hand, Manning could be instrumental in the decision on who the next coach would be. The Broncos have reportedly already asked permission to interview Baltimore Ravens OC Gary Kubiak. There was some noise back in 2012 that Manning was a fan of Kubiak, and that the Texans, where Kubiak was then the head coach, were a team that Manning was interested in very early on in his process.
On the other hand, the Broncos might be ready to move on from Peyton because of his performance down the stretch and the fact that he will be 39 years old when the 2015 NFL season starts. That would lead to Manning hitting the open market just like he did in 2012. If he does, the Titans would likely be in the mix of teams that would be interested in his services.
Mike Florio made a list of 7 teams that could be a good fit for Peyton if he is on the market. He broke down the pros and cons for each team. The Titans are on the list. Here is what he had to say about Manning and Tennessee:
Pros: Return to Tennessee, possible opening for post-football executive role/ownership, presence of Ken Whisenhunt as head coach, weak division, twice-per-year meetings with the Colts.Cons: Many talent deficiencies on both sides of the ball, strong likelihood of being unable to compete with the Colts.
I would put Whiz on the cons list, but that isn't really the point of what we are talking about here.
Look, I understand that it is highly unlikely that Manning ends up in the two-toned blue, but if he does hit the market, the Titans would be wise to do everything in their power to get him here. He might only have 1 or 2 good years left in him, but he is a major upgrade over what the Titans currently have.
He also might not have any interest in mentoring Zach Mettenberger, but Mett would benefit just from spending time around Peyton. Mett could just watch the way Manning prepares. That makes Mett a better quarterback- even if Peyton never does any direct mentoring.
Apparently one of the biggest reason Peyton didn't come here in 2012 was because of Chris Palmer. That obstacle has been removed, and the Titans currently have an "offensive coordinator" that started his coaching career at the University of Tennessee. That obviously means that Peyton would love to work with him, well that and the fact that Jon Gruden owns land in Knoxville.
