The Arizona Cardinals are considered one of the teams that will take a serious look at Peyton Manning and try and sign the future Hall of Fame quarterback once his release from the Indianapolis Colts is official. That is expected to happen on Wednesday, as Manning is due to be paid a $28 million bonus on Thursday.
A while back, the Cardinals were considered the odds on favorites to get him. Those odds increased, but it appears that they have gone back down.
According to pregame.com, the Cards are the most likely team to land Manning, with a 17 percent chance. A bet of $100 when the odds first came out could gave won $2500, but now will only net you $250.
The Dolphins, Redskins and retirement are the next most likely endings. According to the list of odds, there is still a 10 percent chance that Manning simply calls it quits.
In another interesting finding, Yahoo! posted some Accuscore playoff odds for teams with and without Peyton Manning.
It turns out that the Cards would benefit the most from Manning. The projections have the Cardinals, as currently constituted, going 7-9 with a 12.5 percent chance at making the playoffs. With Manning, they are projected to go 10-6 or 11-5 and have a 69.5 percent chance of making the playoffs.
The rest of the predictions go like this:
| ARIZONA CARDINALS | W | L | DIV% | PLAYOFF% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Roster | 7 | 9 | 10.20% | 12.50% |
| w/ Peyton Manning | 10.7 | 5.3 | 52.50% | 69.80% |
| MIAMI DOLPHINS | W | L | DIV% | PLAYOFF% |
| Current Roster | 7.4 | 8.6 | 3.60% | 21.50% |
| w/ Peyton Manning | 10.5 | 5.5 | 26.80% | 73.90% |
| WASHINGTON REDSKINS | W | L | DIV% | PLAYOFF% |
| Current Roster | 4.6 | 11.4 | 0.30% | 1.00% |
| w/ Peyton Manning | 8.1 | 7.9 | 10.50% | 25.40% |
| SEATTLE SEAHAWKS | W | L | DIV% | PLAYOFF% |
| Current Roster | 7.3 | 8.7 | 18.80% | 23.90% |
| w/ Peyton Manning | 9.7 | 6.3 | 49.90% | 62.50% |
| KANSAS CITY CHIEFS | W | L | DIV% | PLAYOFF% |
| Current Roster | 6.8 | 9.2 | 4.90% | 14.20% |
| w/ Peyton Manning | 8.5 | 7.5 | 14.70% | 37.50% |
| CLEVELAND BROWNS | W | L | DIV% | PLAYOFF% |
| Current Roster | 5.3 | 10.7 | 0.30% | 2.50% |
| w/ Peyton Manning | 7.8 | 8.2 | 4.00% | 22.40% |
| NEW YORK JETS | W | L | DIV% | PLAYOFF% |
| Current Roster | 7.7 | 8.3 | 6.10% | 23.10% |
| w/ Peyton Manning | 10.2 | 5.8 | 24.00% | 65.20% |
| SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS | W | L | DIV% | PLAYOFF% |
| Current Roster | 9.6 | 6.4 | 73.80% | 77.30% |
| w/ Peyton Manning | 11.5 | 4.5 | 90.90% | 93.40% |
Only the 49ers project to a better record with Manning, but improve only two games over Alex Smith.
What do you all think of these findings?
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