By Chad Wise, Co-Sports Editor
Despite signing a five-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts prior to the 2011 season, Peyton Manning finds himself with a new team heading into 2012. Manning signed a new five-year deal with the Denver Broncos, ending one of the most interesting free agency sagas since Brett Favre came out of retirement.
Manning, one of the most successful quarterbacks to only play with one team, missed the entirety of last season after neck surgery and was released by the Colts in March.
The quarterback being replaced by Peyton Manning is Tim Tebow, who now finds himself in New York behind Mark Sanchez with the Jets. Tebow was traded, along with a seventh round draft pick in 2012, in exchange for a fourth and sixth round pick in 2012. Woody Johnson, owner of the Jets, stated that the reason for the trade was not to bring arguably the NFL’s most popular player to the league’s biggest market.
“Let me be really clear about this, we work for the fans and the fans want us to win games,” Johnson told ESPN. “And our mission is to win games, pure and simple. We think that Tim Tebow has been a winner all his life.”
Jets head coach Rex Ryan also said that Tebow “can do a lot of things besides being the backup quarterback,” recalling his early days as the backup at the University of Florida.
The 2012 NFL Draft will be held April 26-28, before training camp opens in preparation of the 2012 season.
