Peyton Manning Could Parallel Roy Oswalt

Reports are coming in this morning that free agent pitcher Roy Oswalt may sign with the St. Louis Cardinals.   Oswalt, 34, missed six weeks of last season with the Philadelphia Phillies thanks to a back injury and found himself suddenly on the back burner of the open market.  He’s aging, injured, and supposedly contemplating retirement, so it makes sense that teams would hold him at arms-length.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the scrap heap, and Oswalt found himself being courted by as many as six or seven teams as February prepared to rear its ugly, snow-encrusted head.  You see, Oswalt is supremely talented at a position that can make a HUGE difference in the fight to  escape standings mediocrity and rise above the crowd in Major League Baseball.   The same holds true in all sports, and, in the NFL, no set of players get more leeway in terms of doubts about age, injury, and judgement.   See the recent cases of Brett Favre, Kerry Collins, Carson Palmer, and Vince Young for evidence.

In other words, Indianapolis Colts legend Peyton Manning should have no trouble finding a QB gig in the NFL if he wants one, assuming that his head is still physically attache to his torso by, say, May of this year.