Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Archie Manning was on ESPN Radio Tuesday talking about how Peyton Manning came to his decision to join the Broncos and how he canceled his meeting with the San Francisco 49ers.  Archie said,

He had four (visits) immediately lined up. And the first one he decided to visit was Denver. I think that was comfort for him. I think it was comfort with John Fox. Everyone loves Foxie – I’m not going to have to visit with some stiff coach the first day. And then I think it was John Elway. And John being a quarterback. And then once he got there, I don’t think he decided that day ‘That’s where I’m going.’ He did go make a visit the next day to Arizona. And then he did cancel his next visits to San Francisco and Seattle. He just said, ‘I’m worn out and they’re going to have to come to me. I’m going to go home.’

The story we have been told by Jim Harbaugh was that he and Greg Roman were just “evaluating” Peyton and they planned to go with Alex Smith as their starter along.  We all knew before Colin Kaepernick was promoted to starting quarterback that the Niners pursuit of Peyton was more than just an evaluation visit.  Come on, Harbaugh and Roman traveled cross-country to North Carolina and kept the meeting a secret until someone leaked the information about the visit.

If Alex Smith didn’t believe Harbaugh trusted him to quarterback the 49ers this season after the Peyton visit and Kaepernick keeping the starting QB job after he was healthy, than he certainly knows now.  I would trust Archie’s version of the events more than Harbaugh’s.  I don’t believe Harbaugh was trying to be deceitful by saying it was just an evaluation, but that he was trying to protect Smith and his confidence.  Another example of this is Harbaugh not officially naming Kaepernick the starter the rest of the season, when everyone else knows he will be unless he gets injured.  By not naming a starter he is again protecting Smith for some reason.

Had Peyton chosen the 49ers, Harbaugh would have jumped at the opportunity to bring him aboard.  Based on Archie’s account of how Peyton choose the Broncos and the instructions he gave to the 49ers, it is clear Harbaugh was hotly pursuing Peyton.

Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Honesty is the best policy, and in Jim Harbaugh’s case that policy is always front and center.  During a group interview with the Bay Area media on Wednesday, Harbaugh, in an unprompted response, brought up the 49ers pursuit of Peyton Manning even though it happened two and a half months ago. Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman traveled to North Carolina to watch the current Broncos quarterback workout during the heart of the Peyton Sweepstakes.

Here is how the exchange about the 49ers approach to Manning started:

Jim Harbaugh:

Oh, one other thing. The perception out there, and it’s an erroneous perception, that we were flirting with Peyton Manning. I keep hearing that over and over and over again. It’s silly and it’s untrue. It’s phony. Even the perception that we were pursuing him – we were evaluating him.

There would have been no circumstance were we would have let Alex Smith go. Now, were we out there, seeing, evaluating if we could have them both? Heck, yeah. You evaluate that and you eliminate the possibility. And further evidence — we would not have given any player that was out there in free agency a sixth of our salary cap and let six or seven of our own guys go here. So hopefully that sets the record straight. And we don’t have to keep reporting the silliness and the phoniness.

You cannot fault Harbaugh for being honest.  In fact, I wish more head coaches in the NFL had Harbaugh’s honesty.  What Harbaugh was doing with his spontaneous statement was what he has previously done with Alex Smith and most recently with Michael Crabtree, publicly stating his confidence in one of his players.  Harbaugh just does it in his own unique way.

What was surprising and new in what Harbaugh said is this was the first time he has so strongly stated the 49ers were not seriously pursuing Manning.  The only reason I would believe this is because 49ers fans thought it was a good move to go after Manning and the pursuit did not cause Smith to sign with another team in retaliation.  Everything worked out in the end for the 49ers.  The other new thing to take away from what Harbaugh said was his comments in response to this question: If Peyton had said he wanted to come here would Alex still be here as well?

That would have been the hope, yeah. Like I said, there was no scenario where we weren’t going to have Alex Smith on this team if we could help it. Now you don’t control all those factors. So I think that’s very clear, very concise, hopefully everyone can understand that.

If the 49ers had won the Peyton Sweepstakes, Smith would be competing with Peyton for the starting job, had he re-signed.  I wonder who would’ve won that competition?  My bet would be on Manning.  But the confusing part is when Harbaugh said the 49ers would have needed to release six or seven players to be able to match Manning’s contract he signed with the Broncos.  Why even evaluate Manning if you know you would have to sell the farm to bring in one player?

The 49ers have shown they like to stock pile players at any position they have a need, for example see the team’s approach to acquiring receivers, so I see the intrigue in “evaluating” Manning.  However if you knew all along you were not serious about signing Manning, why take the risk to go watch him workout?  Maybe risk is right up there with honesty when it comes to Harbaugh’s coaching philosophy.

Here is a video of Harbaugh’s comments:

Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

San Francisco 49ers fans were shocked when the news came out Peyton Manning would be signing with the Denver Broncos.  How could a future Hall of Fame quarterback pick the 8-8 Broncos, who’s defense gave up 40 points or more in five-games last season over the 49ers?  On paper and on the field, the 49ers were the best team for Manning to choose from.  But logic does not always win out.  Here are five reasons why Manning did not sign with the 49ers:

NFC Disadvantage

The biggest factor to sway Manning to the Broncos and away from the 49ers, was not having to play in the NFC.  It is well documented Manning wanted to avoid having to play against his brother Eli Manning.  During the regular season it would not have been an issue, however, with the 49ers losing to the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, chances are both of these teams would meet in the playoffs.  The 49ers will be hosting the Giants in 2012, so we know they would have had at least one meeting this season.   If Peyton is going to deny Eli another shot at a Super Bowl ring, he would rather it be in the Super Bowl than the NFC playoffs.

Also, the NFC has way more better teams at the top of their conference compared to the AFC.  For Manning, the road to get back to the Super Bowl is easier in the AFC.

Control of the Offense

The Denver Broncos were willing, albeit begrudgingly, to mold the offense around Tim Tebow last season.  Certainly, Broncos head coach Jim Fox would do the same for Manning, if not more so than Tebow, which is another reason why he went with Denver over San Francisco.  Jim Harbaugh would have molded the offense to make Manning more comfortable but little would change from the power-run/West Coast offense currently installed.  Harbaugh likes to have control and direction of the offense.  He would have relented somewhat but nowhere near the way the Broncos were willing to bend the offense for Manning.

Super Bowl or Bust Mentality

A majority of NFL fans outside of the 49ers, Broncos and Titans, would have picked San Francisco as Manning’s most likely destination, with the team being the only one advancing to a conference championship game last season.  Moreover, the 49ers have a stout defense that is the top-three, if not top-one, defenses in the NFL with many key players locked up for two more seasons.  Even the 49ers talent on offense topped the Titans and Broncos.  Throw-in a good offense line, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Mario Manningham, Randy Moss and Michael Crabtree with Manning, and you have a legitimate Super Bowl contender.  More so than with Alex Smith at quarterback.

In Tennessee, Manning would have become the Pope of the state because of his roots there when he played at the University of Tennessee.  The Titans signaled they were willing to make him a Titan for-life, by giving him a front-office job after he retired.

Manning compared the 49ers, Broncos and Titans and saw Super Bowl potential in all three.  With the 49ers he would be expected to at the very least get to the NFC Championship.  But we all know had the news broke in San Francisco’s favor, Niner fans would have started purchasing their plane tickets for New Orleans, where the Super Bowl will be held next.  And I would have gotten a ‘Super Bowl or Bust: Manning 2012’ tattoo.

Going to Tennessee, there would have been Super Bowl expectations but it would have been less intense compared to in San Francisco.  As a favorite son of Tennessee, Titans fans would probably look the other way with a non-Super Bowl appearance this season.

In Denver, there is still expectations of getting to a Super Bowl, but really all Manning needs to do is at least make the playoffs and win one playoff game, for Broncos fans to be satisfied and forget about Tebow.  What Manning saw in Denver was a chance to compete and win, but with less expectations of a Super Bowl either this season or next.  Manning can control the expectations in Denver, more than he could in Tennessee and even more so than in San Francisco.

The Secrecy of the Workout

Were the 49ers willing to give Manning a 5-year, $95 million deal?  Probably not.  I only say this because Harbaugh and GM Trent Baalke kept the workout a secret, or tried to at least.  The 49ers heard Manning was healthy and looked good in his workouts and decided to take a look.  I don’t blame the 49ers for taking a look but they should have been more upfront and public about.  Alex Smith was not told about the workout until a few hours before it became public.  The secrecy I think alienated not only Smith, but Manning too.  Manning was probably seriously interested in San Francisco but being told to keep the workout a secret probably did not sit well with Manning. This could have been another factor in Manning deciding where to sign.  Unfortunately for the 49ers, the secrecy did not help anyone as Manning is in Denver and Smith is still unsigned.

John Elway Factor    

All three finalists for Manning’s services had former players in charge of courting  the quarterback.  The 49ers had Harbaugh.  The Titans had head coach Mike Munchak and offensive line coach Bruce Matthews.  Anytime an image or video was shown of Manning visiting with the Broncos, John Elway and Manning looked like they were joined at the hip.  The Elway factor I think is what sealed the deal for Manning.

At 37- and 38-years old, Elway won his first and second Super Bowl titles before retiring in 1999.  Before Elway won his two Super Bowls, the Broncos were thinking of going in a new direction minus the Hall of Fame QB.  Instead, Broncos sixth-round pick Terrell Davis from the 1995 draft turned into a Pro Bowl and MVP running back.  Davis helped save Elway’s career in Denver by giving the team a running back who could take the throwing load off Elway.  With that help and more, Elway won his first two Super Bowls, back-to-back, late in his career.

I mention this because Manning is in almost the same position as Elway was at this point in his career.  For his neck’s sake, Manning knows he cannot carry the load like he did in Indianapolis by throwing a majority of the time.  The Broncos showed last season they can run the football, really well.  This will take the offensive load off Manning much like Elway in his final years in Denver.  Elway probably looked Manning in the eye and said something like, “we may not be the best playoff ready team compared to San Francisco or Tennessee, but it’s not just about this season.  It is about starting to build now and add pieces in the future to win multiple Super Bowls.  This organization and I have been through the exact same thing you are going through now. This franchise knows how to build around an aging but capable quarterback.”

It also didn’t hurt Elway and Manning were already close friends before Denver’s courtship started.

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