Peyton to the Broncos

Greg Trott, AP

Peyton Manning woke up Monday morning and decided to call John Elway to inform him that he would love to become a part of the Denver Broncos organization.  Manning also gave a phone call to the Titans and 49ers to inform him of his decision to join the Broncos.  During Manning's initial meeting with the Broncos, Elway and Manning discussed a 5 year deal worth $95 million, and since the Elway and the Broncos organization made a trip to Durham, NC to watch Manning as he worked out on the Duke University campus.  All teams after Manning had major concerns of whether Manning's health would be an issue, but after examination by each teams doctors Peyton passed each physical examination.  The Broncos did not want to announce anything until both sides have reached a decision on the contract and have scheduled a news conference for Tuesday afternoon.

Question is where does this leave Tim Tebow?  Should they trade Tebow or keep him.  If they trade him then what happens after Manning is gone and what happens if Manning gets re-injured.  If they keep him that gives Tebow the opportunity to train under Peyton Manning and John Elway, 2 great NFL quarterbacks.  We shall see how this plays out.  Stay tuned.


UPDATE: Peyton Manning agreed to a 5 year, $96 million contract with the Denver Broncos in which Manning will receive $18 million guaranteed next season and must pass a physical before each season to get paid the following seasons.  During the press conference Manning stated that he was grateful for the different teams and organizations that were interested in him but he felt that the Broncos was the best felt and that he plans to retire as a Denver Bronco.  He also stated that he would do everything he can to win Denver another Super Bowl championship.  Tim Tebow was later traded to the New York Jets.

Howard Remains in Orlando

After much attention throughout the season surrounding Dwight Howard asking to be traded from the Orlando Magic, Howard has decided to remain in Orlando, well at least for another year.  Right before the trade deadline Howard signed papers that agreed to waive the early termination option in his contract, guaranteeing that he will be a Magic for the 2012-2013 season.

Dwight had continuously asked for a trade starting during preseason up until this week.  Speculations began to swirl during preseason that Howard would up a Laker or maybe a Net or maybe even a Celtic.  The drama surrounding Howard being traded topped the "Melo"drama of last year and kept fans tuned in to see if the best "big man" in the league today would stay or leave Orlando.  Well now we know that Howard opted to stay in Orlando in hopes of giving the Magic a chance at a run in the playoffs.  Howard felt by the decision he made today it will give the Magic the opportunity to build a championship contender team next season.  We'll see how this turns out, maybe now the Magic organization may include Howard on some of the decisions they make, as the reason Howard asked for a trade was due to the frustration he had with the Magic front office for not including him in decisions so they were building a team "around" him.

Lakers Deal Fisher in Multiplayer Trade

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The Lakers proved at the beginning of the season that nobody was safe, except for Kobe, when they attempted to trade Gasol and Odom.  Now Derek Fisher has become the latest to get the ax by the "Lakeshow".  After acquiring Ramon Sessions earlier today before the trade deadline, the Lakers decided to trade long time point guard Derek Fisher in a multiplayer trade involving the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets.  Fisher was traded to the Houston Rockets for Jordan hill as well as the Rockets first round draft pick they had acquired from Dallas earlier this season.

In return for receiving Sessions from the Cavaliers, the Lakers will lose their first round pick in this year draft to Cleveland.  The Lakers also received Christian Eyenga and the Cavs received Luke Walton and Jason Kapono.  If the Lakers were to miss the playoffs this year, they will keep their first round draft pick the Cavs are supposed to receive as part of the deal.

Calvin Johnson Signs Deal with Lions

Calvin Johnson has now become the highest paid receiver in the NFL signing a 8-year deal worth $132 million.  Megatron has helped revive the Detroit Lions and the organization has decided to reward their star receiver.  The contract will go into affect immediately and will run through 2019 with $60 million guaranteed.  Johnson had 96 catches for 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.  Coach Jim Scwartz stated "Calvin's one of those guys -- we've said this about a few guys that we have in our building -- whatever they pay him is not enough.  He's truly a special player."

Bears Trade for Brandon Marshall

With issues in the wide receiver category, the Bears now have a top wide receiver after they traded for Miami Dolphins' Brandon Marshall, well that's if Marshall will be able to stay out of trouble off of the field.  In return for Brandon Marshall the Dolphins received two third-round draft picks in the upcoming 2012 NFL draft.  Marshall ended the season last year with 81 catches for 1,214 yards and will definitely give the Bears the receiver that Cutler has been searching for since he came to the Bears.  A lot of people took to twitter to express how they felt about Marshall being traded including former teammate running back Reggie Bush who tweeted "Hate to see my boy B Marshall go.  That's the league for you, one day your here next day you're gone.  Chicago is getting one hell of a player".

Marshall may be an excellent player on the field but he seems to continuously be getting in trouble off the field.  In recent Marshall drama a woman is claiming that Marshall punched her in the face in a nightclub in New York.  The incident supposedly occurred Sunday night before the trade between the Bears and Dolphins took place.  According to a statement released by Marshall's lawyer Brandon was not involved int he incident in which a fight broke out in the nightclub and the incident is currently under investigation by the police.  Both teams were aware of the incident involving Marshall but still decided to proceed with the trade.  Bears' general manager Phil Emery stated that the Bears were fully aware of what occurred over the weekend with Marshall and that have high expectations of Marshall as a Bear.

Honestly I hope that the incident is not true, as Marshall has had enough drama and trouble off the field in the past.  This trade to the Bears could be a really fresh start for Marshall and it could be great for the Bears.  Stay tuned on the details of the incident as well as next season once the season get started to see how Cutler and Marshall do for the Bears.

Mike D'Antoni Resigns

AP Photo

The Knicks have been nothing short of a disappointment lately as they  nwent into tonight's game on a 6 game losing streak and also without a head coach.  Right before shoot around earlier today it was announced that Mike D'Antoni had resigned as the head coach of the struggling New York Knicks.  Speculation of D'Antoni resigning began looming around the sports world earlier this week before the Knicks losing streak increased to 6.  Assistant Coach Mike Woodson has been named the interim head coach, beginning tonight in the Knicks game against the Portland Trail Blazers.  D'Antoni felt that his stepping down would be the best thing for the Knicks organization and he felt that he had done all he could do as the head coach of the team.

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II 

Maybe D'Antoni was right and his stepping down was best for the team, as the Knicks went on to demolish the Trail Blazers tonight 121-79 with him as their head coach.  The Knicks outscored the Trail Blazers the entire game jumping to an early lead over Portland.  The two teams went in to halftime with the Knicks up 55-29, and the Trail Blazers were outscored in the 4th quarter 43-23.  JR Smith led the Knicks and Trail Blazers in scoring with 23 points and for once the Knicks actually looked like they had some kind of chemistry.  The Knicks are now 19-24 and are currently tied with the Bucks for the number 8 spot in the east.  If the Knicks want any hope of making the playoffs this year they must play like their lives depended on it otherwise if the regular season was to end today who's to say whether they would make.  It's going to be interesting to see how the Knicks end the season with the current loss of head coach Mike D'Antoni as well as overcoming the many struggles they have gone through all season.

Moss Back From Retirement

After going into "retirement" last year, Randy Moss has returned to the NFL stating that he feels that he still have talent to give to a team.  After working out with a couple teams the 49ers have decided to take a chance on Moss agreeing to a 1-year deal yesterday.  After working out with New Orleans last week, Moss felt that San Francisco was the right fit for him as soon as he stepped off the plane on Sunday.  Moss stated that he retired from football after a rough 2010 season due to personal reasons outside of football and was hoping to make a comeback towards the end of last season.  Moss has always felt that even at the age of 35 he still had dynamic forces to add to a team.  It will be interesting to see if Moss will fit in with the 49ers as they hope to make another playoff run next season or if he will turn out to be a "problem child" for yet another team.  For more on the store and Moss' workout with the 49ers visit ESPN.

Lakers fall to struggling Wizards

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After going up by 21 points, the Lakers were able to hold off for the victory as the struggling Wizards, who are now 9-29, rallied back to beat the Lakers 106-101.  The Lakers were unable to hold off after going up 76-55 in the 3rd quarter as the Wizards second string fought back to shock Laker Nation as well as the basketball world fighting back from the 21 point deficit to defeat the Lakers by 5.  The Wizards went on a 26-7 run and pulled themselves within 2 points going into the 4th quarter.  Bryant went 1 of 10 in the 4th quarter and finished the game with 30 points.  The Lakers have struggled all season on the road, winning only 6 games on the road thus far this season.  "Our mindset right now to play on the road is not what it should be," stated Lakers' Coach Mike Brown.  When interviewed after the game Wizards' Young, who finished with 19 points, stated "When your backs are against the wall, you can't do anything but go up."  And that's exactly what the Wizards did, went up and rose to the occasion.  What seem like what would be an easy victory for the Lakers turned out to be a learning experience, in professional sports no lead is safe.

Colts Release Peyton Manning

Andy Lyons / Getty Images

It is a official the Indianapolis Colts have released their star quarterback Peyton Manning.  Manning and Irsay hosted a press conference today to address all questions and concerns that have been surrounding the Colts announcement of releasing Manning.  Irsay led off the press conference and explained that the decision was hard to come to but was agreed on by both sides.  Teary eyed Irsay explained that in order to rebuild the Colts under the current cap they had to make the difficult decision to release Manning in order to make room to sign draft picks, in which the NFL draft is schedule to take place April 26-28.  "Circumstances were to difficult to overcome" -Jim Irsay stated, "he'll always be a part of the horseshoe." Manning then began to speak and becoming emotional and teary eyed it was obvious that Manning was hurt by the difficult decision.  Manning did state that retirement was not in his interest that he is not done playing football and that he is getting better and better as days go by after the multiple neck surgeries have had him on the sideline.  "I have loved playing football for the Colts and the only professional football I know is the Colts" Manning stated, "...in life and sports nothing lasts forever." Manning later went on to state "After extensive talks we have recognized that our circumstances makes it best for us to take this next step and it has been a honor to play with this team."

It is going to be interested to see where Manning ends up during free agency and how his return will be next season.  One things for sure is that his first game back will be a highly publicized game.