Peyton Manning's contract is up after this season, the same time the NFL's collective bargaining agreement also expires.
As the owners and players' union prepare to butt heads and negotiate, ideally avoiding a lockout, many people, including Yahoo Sports' Jason Goode, recognize that Manning holds the largest bargaining chip, yet he has decided not to be an outspoken member of the union, either as a player rep or just as a voice.
However, that doesn't mean Manning isn't paying attention.
"I stay abreast of the situation, and I’m a union guy by all means," Manning said Wednesday, according to Yahoo Sports.
He may be a "union guy," but he is not as involved as fellow quarterbacks and icons Tom Brady and Drew Brees, who have taken formal roles with the union through the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). Instead, Manning defers to longtime union member and Colts center Jeff Saturday.
"Jeff Saturday is our rep, and Jeff is on [commissioner Roger] Goodell’s [player] council," Manning said. "He is more in the know than those other guys. So Jeff and I talk a lot, and Jeff comes to me with what [NFLPA executive director] Dee Smith wants, something that Dee wants me to make a quote on. A couple of things they’ve come to me with, I actually thought it wasn't as big an issue as something else might be. I don't want to be just making quotes on something every time. You do that, and it loses its impact, so I said 'Let me know when you really need me.' … I’m not a rep. I chose not to do that."
Manning understands the gravity of the potential lockout and how his contract will have a ripple effect on every contract after that. And after watching Brady take a "team-friendly" deal in 2005 — now the source of conflict between the quarterback and Patriots brass — it is unlikely Manning will give ground when his own contract negotiations start.
"I do feel there is kind of an unwritten rule to sign a fair contract so that whoever the next quarterback is — be it Brady or Brees or whoever — you don’t put them in an unfair position because you did something not up to speed," Manning said. "Quarterbacks, defensive backs, whoever, I do feel it’s important, especially because of the franchise tag and the effect that has on other guys."
The Colts' star already is beginning to plan for the possibility of a lockout, attempting to gather a following of players to continue to work out and stay in football shape so they can be prepared to play as soon as an agreement is reached. If a deal isn’t struck by the end of the collective bargaining agreement, the players will have no access to facilities next offseason, meaning they will need to go to local high schools — which is exactly what Manning has in mind.
"I think you’ve got to make those plans now because after the season, it’s hard to scrounge guys up," he said. "A lockout doesn’t mean you get to come by the facility and pick up cleats and footballs. It means a lockout. You’re on your own."
