So it appears Peyton Manning will be back in the NFL for an 18th season after agreeing to return to Denver for at least one more run at a second Super Bowl title.
This is grand news, whether you believe Peyton to be the GOAT or the most overrated player since Joe Namath.
This is grand news because he elevates the level of play and competition, especially in the AFC, and it continues one of the great personal rivalries we've had in all of team sports with the Manning-Tom Brady debate. A debate that has to be viewed with Brady comfortably in the lead considering Brady led the Patriots to the Super Bowl title last month, his fourth world championship compared to Manning's lone ring.
Still, that we get another run of the two future Hall of Famers vying for the same goal is good for all of us.
But is the news that Manning will do this and take less money to do it -- he took a $4 million pay cut to return to the Broncos -- grand news?
There is certainly an open-endedness to that question. Manning is financially set for life, as he has made hundreds of millions of dollars flinging footballs and pitching everything from pizza to insurance (everyone sing along in a Nationwide monotone: "Cashing checks from East to West").
So Manning taking less money from the Broncos makes personal sense for him. He's still making $15 million, which is a little better than minimum wage, after all, and the team has more money under the NFL salary cap to surround him with more talent and better players in the franchise's closing window of Super Bowl contention.
But the owners and the front-office people are certainly not going to take less money, are they? Will the league return some of its record-setting TV revenue now that Peyton -- one of the game's most beloved and marketable stars (let's sing again, "Everyone loves 'Omaha'") -- is back and will be a regular feature on prime-time broadcasts.
And if you think for a second that Manning does not elevate the Broncos to a place where TV covets them, ask yourself how many prime-time spots will Denver get next year? At least three, right? And maybe one more. How many prime-time spots would the Brock Osweiler-led Broncos get? Exactly.
So the onus is on the player to take less, even if everyone else gets more, and this seems fair how? Yes, Manning will be lauded as a good teammate who wants to win, but he already was viewed as a great teammate who was the most prepared player maybe in league history.
This is not a new scenario -- future Hall of Famers such as Brady and the NBA's Tim Duncan have taken less money to help alleviate salary-cap strains and provide more for better rosters -- but why is this solely on the players?
It seems the franchise should carry some of this weight, too. Plus, it will only intensify the pressure on stars down the road to take less than they are worth, which is not a fair or equitable structure.
Manning deserves another shot at a Super Bowl, but he certainly deserves to make more money than Jay Cutler or Tony Romo or even his brother Eli as he does it.
Peyton's abilities and accomplishments demand it. Yes, he would get $2 million bonuses for getting to the Super Bowl and winning the Super Bowl, but that would be worth at least 10 times that, and maybe more, to the Broncos.
We all should be happy that Peyton Manning is returning, and it is his decision to take less money. And the reasons to do so make sense even if they mean fewer cents for Manning and more for everyone else involved.
But the future implications will mean the expectations for players everywhere will be to take less.
And, yes, it's extra numbers in the paycheck than most of us are used to, but if you think this is a good trend, ask yourself what would you do if your boss said, "We want you to come back next year, but could you take a 17 percent pay cut so we can keep some of the people around you happy, too?"
Does that sound so grand now?
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343. Follow him on Twitter at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.
His "Right to the Point" column appears on A2 Monday, Thursday and Saturday, and his sports columns run Tuesday and Friday. Read his online column "The 5-at-10" Monday through Friday starting at 10 a.m. at timesfreepress.com.