What will Peyton Manning do in 2016? Not TV, apparently

Before and after Peyton Manning’s retirement, pretty much everyone speculated on what the all-time great quarterback would do in retirement. Because he seemingly had so many different options available to him, it was fun to guess.

The most popular choice was moving into broadcasting, where he’d be a natural and likely an instant superstar calling games or offering analysis in studio. But networks have been told he won’t be pursuing that option, at least this year.

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The New York Daily News said Manning’s representatives told the NFL’s network television partners he will not be part of any of their broadcast teams this year.

Maybe Manning wants a year off, or maybe he has something different in mind for his post-playing days. If television is in Manning’s future plans, networks would be in a bidding war for him the moment he decides to enter that field, whether it’s a week, a year or five years from now. But we haven’t heard much from Manning, other than him singing that insurance jingle in many, many advertisements lately. So it’s still unclear what he wants to do.

Manning could end up in a front office. He could get into coaching, although that seems unlikely given the hours coaches put in. He could go in a number of different directions, he just hasn’t taken any yet.

Television makes sense, but he doesn’t seem to be in a rush to get into a booth on Sundays. That’s too bad, because there are a few color commentators he could replace right now.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab