A Denver Broncos representative denied rumors suggesting that they had tried trading Peyton Manning to the Houston Texans. This was in response to a recent Twitter posting from Benjamin Allbright, 94.1 FM radio talk show host.
On Tuesday, Allbright tweeted that "more than one source" had told him about the alleged trading attempt. He also claimed that "certain elements of Broncos organization wanted [Brock] Osweiler" in return. Allbright's announcements were answered with a curt reply from the Bronco's Vice President of Public Relations, Patrick Smyth.
"Here's one for the record - The speculation is false, and your report is inaccurate," Smyth bluntly said.
"No fight, have sources in Houston and Denver on this. If accurate I welcome the correct details," Allbright replied.
Manning had added a no-trade clause to his revised 2015 contract in March. This part of the agreement did not exist in prior years. A number of observers, including one from CBS and another from NBC, believed that Manning was already in a position to be traded. In public though, Manning seems to be in good standing with the team.
"I'm amazed at his conditioning level, the shape he's in, how he moves around, the feet that he has. He's responded very good," Broncos Coach Gary Kubiak told NFL.com. "We try to dedicate a lot of our time under center, because that's something he hasn't done much of, so we're probably 3-to-1 under center-to-gun. But we're also continuing to do all the things he's done throughout his career. It's been good."
Another NFL watcher also believed that the Broncos were intending on keeping Peyton Manning all along.
"Broncos were never letting Peyton Manning go. Team initially asked for $10M paycut. That team settled for mere $4M sez he was never leaving," Mike Klis tweeted on Wednesday.
In the past, Manning was playing for the Broncos on an annual $19 million salary. After agreeing to restructure his contract in March 2015, the Quarterback sacrificed $4 million to continue playing for the team. Even so, the Broncos are obligated to pay an additional $19 million dollar because Manning is still under contract for 2016.
At age 39, Manning has been seeing a gradual decline in performance particularly in his weakening arm strength. Even so, the Quarterback has compensated with his ability to make accurate passes at opportune moments. Last year, Manning won the Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award for the fifth consecutive time.
