Peyton Manning and Colts Agree to Five-Year, $90-million Deal

It looks like Peyton Manning wasn’t just blowing smoke in the last couple of days when he said that he didn’t need the validation of the richest average annual salary in NFL history.  As reported on CNN and via owner Jim Irsay’sn Twitter account, the Colts are expected to announce tomorrow that Manning has agreed to a five-year, $90-million deal.    That’s $18 million per year, if you’re calculating along at home, and would match Tom Brady’s current contract for the largest annual salary in the NFL.   It also frees up about $5 million of cap space this year, compared to the projected $23 million Manning would have received as the Colts’ designated Franchise Player.

There may be other details about this new deal that come forth in the next few days, but for now, it looks like the Colts can make some moves to build the best possible team for 2011.   Hopefully, those moves will start with re-signing one of Manning’s main security blankets Joseph Addai.  Check back here for more Colts news and opinions as events play out in the opening days of training camp.