Eli Manning's refusal to play gave Chargers a bargaining chip

When A.J. Smith thinks back on one of the biggest trades in NFL draft history, he doesn't harbor any regrets.

Seven years after the San Diego Chargers' general manager used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft on quarterback Eli Manning, who told the team in advance that he didn't want to play there, Smith says he still has no second thoughts about the pick and subsequent trade that landed Philip Rivers -- even if Manning won a Super Bowl first.

"He (Manning) was a value pick," Smith told the Sporting News. "He was a bar of gold."

Manning objected to the idea of playing for the Chargers and made that publicly known before the draft. The Sporting News reports that Smith, with Manning's advance ultimatum, also knew that the New York Giants wanted Manning. After the Giants selected Rivers with the fourth overall pick, the trade was made.

"He (Manning) was a Charger for 45 minutes," Smith said, "and that was too much time to be a Charger, in my opinion."

In the trade, the Chargers received a third-round pick in the 2004 draft (used on kicker Nate Kaeding), a first-round pick in 2005 (resulting in linebacker Shawne Merriman) and a fifth-round pick in 2005, which they traded for left tackle Roman Oben.

Both young quarterbacks have amassed impressive numbers. Manning is one of just three quarterbacks to throw for at least 3,000 yards every season from 2005 to 2010, joining brother older Peyton and New Orleans Saints signal-caller Drew Brees, who was the starter for the Chargers when Rivers was drafted.

Rivers finished the 2010 season with his third consecutive 4,000-yard campaign, and he's the only quarterback to have a passer rating above 100 in each of the last three seasons.

Despite Manning's victory in Super Bowl XLII, Smith has faith that Rivers -- who has led the Chargers to four AFC West championships -- will complete the Super Bowl drive as well.

"I believe with my heart and soul that he one day will lead the Chargers to a world championship," Smith said. "He's a great quarterback -- a phenomenal leader with great character, great work habits."

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Polian: Colts could select Manning's successor in this draft

Peyton Manning has made 11 Pro Bowls, won the NFL's Most Valuable Player award a league-record four times and claimed one Super Bowl championship. He was the MVP in that game, too.

Manning also ranks third in NFL history in passing yards (54,828) and touchdowns (399). But he's 35 years old, meaning the Indianapolis Colts now must think about the previously unthinkable: life without their surefire Hall of Fame quarterback.

Colts vice chairman Bill Polian told The Indianapolis Star in a story in Saturday's editions that the team would consider taking a quarterback in this month's draft "in the right situation" because Manning is entering the twilight of his career.

Why are the Colts looking at young QBs? Steve Wyche explains why it's not premature to find and groom Peyton Manning's successor in Indianapolis. More...

"Quarterback's an issue, probably not a front-burner issue, but an issue nonetheless because while Peyton's not at the end of his career, it's approaching faster than it has in the past," Polian said.

Manning's future became a hot topic after Colts owner Jim Irsay last month expressed frustration over the quarterback not signing the team's league-high contract offer. The Colts also have worked out two quarterbacks, TCU's Andy Dalton and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick, while preparing for the draft.

The Colts own the 22nd overall pick, but Polian wouldn't fully commit to using it on a quarterback. That might be why the team looked at Dalton and Kaepernick, whom many consider to be second-round prospects at best.

"I don't know that you're going to find his eventual replacement drafting 22nd," said Polian, whose Colts have six total picks in the draft. "And whether or not you would use that choice on a quarterback in an unsettled labor situation, where you don't know what kind of contract that's going to be signed, is another issue. That said, I don't think you can dismiss it."

The Colts haven't used a first-round pick on a quarterback since taking Manning No. 1 overall in 1998. Their current backup, Curtis Painter, was a sixth-round selection in 2009, but if the Colts want to groom Manning's eventual successor, they might need to spend a higher draft pick to do it.

When to pull the trigger is the big question.

"You don't know," Polian said, "but you know it's sometime soon. You begin to think about it."

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Manning's late run seals win over Raiders, who are eliminated from playoffs

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Peyton Manning put Indianapolis in the lead with his arm and sealed the game with his legs. No matter what happened against the Oakland Raiders, Manning knew he'd need one more big game to get the Colts back into the postseason.

Manning threw three touchdown passes and iced the game with a 27-yard keeper to help the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders 31-26 Sunday in a game that turned out to have little playoff meaning.

"All we did was win today," Manning said. "We have to find a way to win again next week."

The Colts (9-6) allowed Jacoby Ford to return the opening kick for a touchdown, overcame a pair of interceptions by Manning in the second half and survived four field goals from Sebastian Janikowski, including two from more than 50 yards, to move within a win of clinching the AFC South title for their ninth straight playoff berth.

But when Jacksonville lost 20-17 in overtime to Washington in the early game Sunday, the Colts knew that no matter what happened in this game they could clinch the division with a win at home next week against the Titans or a Jaguars loss at Houston.

"I don't know what the coaches do or what everybody else does, but I didn't know who won the morning games," Manning said. "All we knew was the time of our kickoff and the defenses and offensive plays that Oakland was going to run. That's really was where our focus was."

The results in the early games also robbed this game of any real meaning for the Raiders (7-8), who were eliminated from playoff contention when Kansas City wrapped up a 34-14 win against Tennessee early in the first quarter of this game.

The Chiefs had long been in control of that game so any Oakland player who had caught wind of the score in pregame warmups knew there was only pride on the line.

"The guys were trying not to pay attention to it," quarterback Jason Campbell said. "We were just really trying to focus on our game. That's the situation you're in when you have to count on other teams. It's a tough situation to be in."

The Raiders hung close with the Colts for much of this game but were unable to score an offensive touchdown until Campbell's 6-yard pass to Zach Miller with 1:51 to play.

Manning took advantage of a 31-yard pass interference call against Stanford Routt to throw a 4-yard TD pass to Blair White to give the Colts a 24-16 lead late in the third quarter. But little came easy for Manning against Oakland's defense. He threw a pair of interceptions in the second half, giving him 17 for the season, which is his most since 2002.

He responded from the second interception by leading the Colts on a 68-yard drive that was capped by a 7-yard TD pass to Pierre Garcon on third down to give Indianapolis a 31-19 lead.

After the Colts recovered a late onside kick, Manning ran out the clock with a 27-yard keeper on third-and-2. He faked the ball to Dominic Rhodes and then ran around the left side before sliding down at the 4, instead of scoring, to allow the Colts to run out the clock.

"That was just a great call by him," Rhodes said. "They had been biting, they were trying to stop me from running the football. Even I thought I had the football, along with everybody else. The whole defense converged on me. It was just a great play all around, he made it happen and we pulled out a great victory."

Manning completed 16 of 30 passes for 179 yards as he struggled at times against Oakland's aggressive cornerbacks. But the Colts managed to gain 191 yards on the ground, including 98 from Rhodes, who returned to Indianapolis earlier this month.

Joseph Addai added a 6-yard touchdown run in the first quarter in his first game since hurting a nerve in his left shoulder Oct. 17.

"We went out and out-physicaled a physical team," Rhodes said. "For the last few weeks, we've done that. We're gearing up for playoff football. And this is what you have to do in the playoffs."

Indianapolis' much-maligned run defense once again stepped up to the challenge a week after holding Maurice Jones-Drew and Jacksonville to 67 yards in last week's key win. Oakland's second-ranked rushing attach was held to 80 yards.

"There's no magic to it," coach Jim Caldwell said. "We're running the same plays, running the same defense. We were just playing what we do, and doing it a little better."

Ford's team-record third kickoff return for a TD got the Raiders started. Oakland went ahead 13-10 after Janikowski made field goals of 59 and 38 yards. The 59-yarder was the second longest in team history.

But Manning led a late touchdown drive helped by a personal foul on Lamarr Houston for poking Kyle DeVan in the eye and a 25-yard pass interference call on Chris Johnson. Manning found Jacob Tamme on a 14-yard pass on the next play to make it 17-13 at the break.

"There's not a quarterback that I've played against that controls the game the way that he does, and handles every situation and is basically the coordinator on the fly," Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said.

Notes: Manning tied former Raiders OL Gene Upshaw for the most consecutive starts to begin a career with 207. ... Raiders DT Richard Seymour missed the game with a hamstring injury.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Colts' Irsay on Manning's contract: 'We've had discussions'

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, attending the NFL Fall League Meeting in Chicago on Tuesday, declined to provide a substantive update on contract extension talks with his star quarterback, Peyton Manning.

"We've had discussions," Irsay said. "You get things done when it's quiet -- and it's quiet. That's the way we want to move forward."

That innuendo was about as much insight as Irsay shared on the status of the negotiations, but he did say that talks are ongoing.

Manning is in the final year of a seven-year, $98 million deal ($14 million average), and Irsay has repeatedly said that he intends to make the quarterback the NFL's highest-paid player, even if it takes the prohibitive franchise tag to keep the only four-time MVP in league history in blue and white.

Manning's contract situation has been previously compared to that of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. In September, Brady signed a four-year, $72 million contract extension, averaging $18 million per season for 2011 to 2014, with $49 million guaranteed.

Manning's brother, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, previously was the league's highest-paid player at $16.25 million annually.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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