Peyton Manning’s Contract

Manning’s $96 million contract is spread out over five years, with payments shown in the table. Each year is not guaranteed, so Denver might not pay out the full amount.

Year 1 Payment ($ millions)

1 18

2 20

3 20

4 19

5 19

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This graph of the data shows how pivotal years 2 and 3 are. Clearly, if Manning performs well in the first year, the next two years offer relatively high payments, with the amounts decreasing in the out years.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

Although Manning has already played 14 years, he is also in a special category of quarterbacks and can be compared to some of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

The average career length for a quarterback is under 6 years, but

Peyton Manning has already played 14 years.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This, while not an exhaustive list, includes some of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. We can compare their career stats to Manning’s to see if he fits in this group.

• Joe Montana • Dan Marino • John Elway • Johnny Unitas • Brett Favre• Bart Starr

• Steve Young • Terry Bradshaw • Kurt Warner • Roger Staubach • Jim Kelly • Bart Starr

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This table shows the career stats for this list of quarterbacks.

Source: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/

QBYears Played

Games Played TD's

Passing Yards

Passes Completed

Joe Montana 15 192 273 40,551 3409

Dan Marino 17 242 420 61,361 4967

John Elway 16 234 300 51,475 4213

Johnny Unitas 18 211 290 40,239 2830

Brett Favre 20 302 508 71,838 6300

Steve Young 15 169 232 33,124 2667

Terry Bradshaw 14 168 212 27,989 2025

Kurt Warner 12 125 208 32,344 2666

Roger Staubach 11 131 153 22,700 1685

Jim Kelly 11 160 237 35,467 2874

Bart Starr 16 196 152 24,718 1808

Peyton Manning’s Contract

Here are Manning’s stats. Let’s compare.

QBYears Played

Games Played TD's

Passing Yards

Passes Completed

Peyton Manning 14 208 399 54,828 4682

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This represents the number of years played for all quarterbacks. The red bar is for Peyton Manning.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This graph is for the number of games played.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This graph is for the number of touchdowns.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This graph is for the total number of passing yards.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This graph is for the number of completed passes.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

Of all the statistics, there is one that suggests that Manning is still viable for a few more years, and why Denver likely struck the deal with Manning.

Peyton Manning’s statistics are comparable to those of a

quarterback at the end of his career. How do we know he can play for more years?

Peyton Manning’s Contract

This box and whisker plot shows the length of the careers for the list of quarterbacks shown earlier. The median number of years is 15. Manning has played 14 years, one less than the median.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

While it’s unlikely that Manning will play another five years, even if he did, it would still place him within the range of career lengths, but a little closer to an outlier.

Peyton Manning’s Contract

How do you think Peyton Manning will do as a quarterback for Denver?