“Signing Peyton was a top priority for this organization and we are thrilled that the deal is complete,’’ Irsay said in a statement yesterday. “We feel that it is a salary-cap friendly deal and it allows us more flexibility.’’
Irsay and team president Bill Polian will discuss the contract at a news conference today.
The deal comes nearly five months after the team used the franchise tag to prevent Manning from negotiating with other teams. Had Manning signed the one-year offer, he would have made $23.1 million this season.
By getting the long-term deal done, Manning’s salary-cap number will be reduced, allowing the team to sign more of its own free agents. The Colts re-signed two key veterans - safety Melvin Bullitt and kicker Adam Vinatieri - last week, but they lost linebacker Clint Session to Jacksonville in free agency.
Manning is still rehabbing from neck surgery in May and coach Jim Caldwell said the quarterback will be put on the physically unable to perform list.
Umenyiora is back Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora ended his holdout after one day and reported to the Giants. The 29-year-old failed to show up at camp Friday after saying all summer that he was unhappy with the team because GM Jerry Reese failed to live up to a promise to renegotiate his contact. Umenyiora ripped Reese in an affidavit filed by players as part of an antitrust suit against the league during the lockout … The Steelers met with free agent wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Burress spent five years with the Steelers, who drafted him in the first round in 2000. He was released from prison June 6 after serving 20 months for a gun charge. He sat down with Giants coach Tom Coughlin Friday … Tight end Ben Watson, the Browns’ leading receiver last season, suffered an apparent concussion midway through new coach Pat Shurmur’s first day of drills yesterday. The former Patriot took a blow to the head. “He was running a pattern, lost his footing, and got a knee in the back of his head,’’ Shurmur said. Watson got up, went to the sideline, then slowly walked to the locker room.
