“It’s really a process of holding him back. You don’t want him doing too much too soon and you don’t know on recoveries,’’ Irsay said in a conference call last night. “A lot of times eight weeks is enough. But to get a full recovery, it’s going to be a little longer in this case.’’
Before Manning can even take the field, there are other matters to clear up - like his contract. He must sign either a long-term deal or his one-year, $23 million franchise offer.
Irsay said he was willing to stay up “past midnight’’ to get something done quickly, hours after the NFL player reps voted unanimously to approve the new labor pact and Manning issued a statement saying he was ready to get started.
“As a fan of the game, I’m pleased the two sides have reached a deal and, as a professional, I want to get back to work,’’ Manning said.
Irsay said he has already offered Manning a deal that will make him the highest-paid player in league history. Tom Brady currently holds that distinction after agreeing to a record annual average salary of $18 million, $72 million over four years, in September.
Progress in LA Los Angeles moved a step closer to coaxing an NFL team back to the region with the release of a draft agreement between city negotiators and the company planning a downtown stadium.
Officials said the non-binding memorandum of understanding, which still requires a City Council vote, contains taxpayer protections that go further than those initially sought by stadium planner Anschutz Entertainment Group.
AEG’s $1.2-billion stadium plan is one of two competing proposals to bring football back to Los Angeles some 16 years after the Rams and Raiders left the nation’s second-largest market.
Warehouse magnate Ed Roski’s Majestic Realty Co. has permits in place to build a separate 75,000-seat stadium about 15 miles east of Los Angeles, in the city of Industry.
Money matters Four teams - the Jets, Dolphins, Bills, and Chiefs - announced they would pay all lost wages to business-side employees who took unpaid furloughs during the NFL lockout and coaches who took pay cuts.
