John Elway Thinks Peyton Manning Would “Help” if They Needed Cap Space

Feb 2, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) leaves the field after Super Bowl XLVIII against the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium. The Seahawks defeated the Broncos 43-8. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Without writing this as the title, because I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth, I think John Elway hinted that Peyton Manning would be willing to take a pay cut if the team needed him to do so.

Or, at least, that’s what it sounded like.

Once Manning passes a physical in March, he is going to make $20 million this next season. The salary cap is being raised to $130 million and according to ESPN, the Broncos currently sit at over $18 million in cap space.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Elway said. “I don’t think he would have any problem if we needed to find some cap room that he wouldn’t help us out.”

I don’t know how you read that, but it sure sounds like Elway knows or at least thinks that Manning would be willing to re-adjust his salary if the Broncos needed some wiggle room to make moves they couldn’t otherwise make.

It would hardly be out of character for Manning, but it’s interesting that Elway would offer this information for him, unless they had already established something beforehand. Maybe this was just a slip of the tongue.

Either way, it sounds like Peyton Manning is willing to use his right arm to reach into his wallet as well as throw a football to help the Broncos win, or at least, the GM of the team seems to think so.