The Seattle Seahawks are dark horses to land quarterback Peyton Manning if he is traded by the Indianapolis Colts. Seattle needs Manning more than Manning needs Seattle.
However, if you add in Manning's favorite target Reggie Wayne to the picture, it might get less dicey. Peter King of Sports Illustrated explains.
The injury-prone Sidney Rice makes this a tough call. But the Seahawks certainly have the cash to make this happen, and it's exceedingly logical to think they'd be interested in both. With Rice and Mike Williams the current projected starters, you'd think Pete Carroll would use Williams and Golden Tate as swing players and injury insurance, with the heady Doug Baldwin the kind of slot receiver Manning could use as his new Brandon Stokley.
Both Manning and Wayne as a package deal doesn't work quite as easily for as many teams. The Miami Dolphins (one of the frontrunners for Peyton) and the Arizona Cardinals (also frontrunners) are the other teams that would seriously be in contention. The New York Jets are unlikely to want Wayne with the depth they have at wideout
Would Seattle want to take on the contracts of two older players both making huge amounts of money? They certainly have the cap space to make such a move, but it might be at the sacrifice of filling the roster with younger players and continuing the youth movement Peter Carroll has in place. On the other hand, both Manning and Wayne on the same team would give Seattle a dynamic quarterback-wide receiver combination that the city hasn't enjoyed in a long, long time.
To discuss the possibility of Manning and Wayne on the Seahawks, check out Field Gulls.