Payton Manning

Kinda scary for a Colts fan:

Jim Irsay won't let Peyton Manning walk away from the Colts next season, no matter the cost.

Indianapolis' owner reiterated yesterday that he intends to make Manning the NFL's highest-paid player even if it takes the prohibitive franchise tag to keep the only four-time MVP in league history in blue and white.

“The bottom line is we'll get something done and when it happens just depends,” Irsay said during the Colts' first training camp practice in Anderson, Ind. “I said he'd be the highest-paid player and he may already be if we go with the tag. I'd love to see him be here and break all those records as a Colt.”

I don't suggest this is a jinx or anything -- but I worry about it being one anyway. How many times have we heard about players getting hefty salaries, then not delivering? Are the Colts paying all that money to a player who has already peaked? What does that salary tell the other players on the team about their relative worth? The highest-paid NFL player? Man, that's a hell of a burden to carry around. Just trying to prove oneself worthy of it could mess with someone's mind to the point where it interferes with his play.