Last Monday, the 49ers off-season would get off to an exciting start after news broke that the team had signed veteran wide receiver Randy Moss to a one-year deal to help upgrade their receiving corps. Just days later, 49ers GM Trent Baalke would follow that up by signing Super Bowl hero Mario Manningham to a two-year pact. The former New York Giants wide-out who's spectacular fourth quarter grab down the sideline to set up the game-winning drive against the New England Patriots, will now be running routes and receiving passes for the team he helped defeat in January's NFC title game. But just when you thought San Francisco's off-season couldn't get any better, the 49ers have reportedly emerged as a sleeper team in the running for one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game in Peyton Manning.
After informing the Miami Dolphins along with division rivals Seattle and Arizona that they weren't among his finalists on Friday, it was learned that in the midst of all the speculation revolving the Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans that Peyton Manning had worked out for the 49ers. According to sources, 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman flew out and met up with the 4-time MVP at Duke University where Manning has been practicing for the past several weeks. After watching him take part in a throwing session, 49ers officials sent a team doctor to North Carolina where Manning underwent a physical exam. While team representatives for both the Broncos and Titans also met with Peyton, as you could imagine, each franchise has had their fair share of endorsers.
With Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway lobbying for Peyton to land in Denver, the Titans on the other hand not only have team owner Bud Adams on the forefront who has said he'd do anything to make Manning a Titan, including offer him a lifetime contract, but they also have the entire state of Tennessee backing him. Manning is beloved in the Volunteer State for his successful college career at the University of Tennessee so much so that a Tennessee diner has offered him free pancakes for life if he signs with the team. The 49ers might not be able to provide Peyton with free pancakes for life, but something they would be able to provide him with is the best possible chance of making it to and winning another Super Bowl. Something former Hall of Fame QB of the 49ers, Steve Young says could be the deciding factor in where Manning chooses to take his talents in 2012. Of the three teams remaining in the Peyton Manning sweepstakes, no team appears to be as stacked on both sides of the ball as the San Francisco 49ers do.
Not only do the 49ers possess a dominant rushing attack led by the tandem of Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter, but they also have a wide-receiving corps that just got better with Michael Crabtree and the additions of Randy Moss and Mario Manningham. And not to be forgotten is Pro-Bowl tight-end Vernon Davis. Even more deadly is San Francisco's defense which put up record-setting numbers last season as the top ranked defense in the league. Though San Francisco would be the run away favorites to land Manning in most people's yes given the talent they currently have, those closest to the story are calling it a long shot. But until he writes the 49ers off or signs on the dotted-line elsewhere, let's keep the optimism flowing and keep our fingers crossed.
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