CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman says that “everyone” he’s spoken to in the NFL believes if Peyton Manning becomes a free agent the Redskins will sign him.

Here’s what Freeman wrote:

7. Look for Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay to meet within the next 48 hours — if they already haven’t done so secretly. Manning, I’m told, wanted some time to pass before meeting with Irsay so his brother could celebrate his championship in peace. Manning knows the minute he and Irsay meet, it’ll become public (mainly because Manning or his agent will leak their side of it).

8. Speaking of Peyton, everyone I speak to in the NFL — and I mean just about everyone — believes if Manning becomes a free agent, the Washington Redskins will sign him.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on Tuesday that the favorites “in my mind” to land Manning are the Dolphins, while John Clayton noted that Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell will balk on signing Peyton after committing $65 million and $21.5 million guaranteed to Kevin Kolb last offseason.

For what it’s worth, oddsmakers list the Cardinals (+200) as the favorites to have Peyton Manning on their roster in 2013, while the Redskins (+250) have the next best odds (+250) followed by the Dolphins.

I would keep my eye on the Jets as well. Rex Ryan has often been infatuated with beating Manning over the years and it’s not like the Jets have a starting quarterback currently on their roster…

…

…ZING!

Eli Manning will never be a prototypical gunslinger. He’ll never be Dan Marino, Brett Favre or Warren Moon. He’s not Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees or his brother either.

And that bothers you. But for a moment, let’s stop to appreciate what Eli has been able to accomplish since arriving to the NFL in 2004. Let’s stop trying to compare him to his brother and Brady (who Eli has now beaten twice in the Super Bowl), and every other quarterback who may have better passing numbers, more touchdowns and/or a better personality.

For once, let’s appreciate Eli Manning for the elite quarterback he is.

Kevin Gilbride’s system is one of the more complex offenses in the NFL. The wideouts in this system have to learn how to read coverages and even adjust mid-route, which makes it a rather difficult offense to master for even veteran receivers like Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz. And just think about how long it took Eli Manning to not only feel comfortable running the offense, but also winning it in.

While the system is often referred to as “quarterback-friendly,” that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to learn. On the contrary: Manning struggled mightily in his first couple of seasons and he barely showed any improvement from year to year because Gilbride’s system can be demanding and frustrating to pick up. That led to even the staunchest Eli supporters wondering if he was the right man to lead the Giants to greatness. But once he mastered the prolific system, he started to thrive in its beauty.

Manning can now come to the line during a given play, read what coverage the defense is in and understand that he has options on where to throw the ball. Look at that unbelievable throw to Manningham in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Manningham wasn’t Eli’s first read on that play. He wasn’t even his second. Manning saw a small window in which to fit the ball in between two defensive backs that were a second to slow in getting to where they were supposed to be. And he dropped that perfectly placed pass into Manningham’s hands as the receiver took care of the rest.

If his receivers adjust, Manning must adjust as well and when the Giants are firing on all cylinders they’re tough to stop. Not every quarterback can run Eli’s offense so why must we compare his play to that of Peyton, Brees or Brady’s? Why can’t we just marvel at the success he’s had to this point?

That success, by the way, translates to two Super Bowl rings. And just because Eli has collected one more Lombardi Trophy than his brother doesn’t mean that he’s on the same level as Peyton, who has four MVP awards over his sparkling career.

When you’re talking about different offenses, different personnel, and different competition, you’re comparing apples to oranges at the end of the day. Everyone wants to lump quarterbacks into one big pile and discuss “who is the best,” but it’s a frivolous debate. Would you compare Jim Brown and Barry Sanders? Hell no – it’s two different running styles. So why are we so determined to compare quarterbacks?

If I don’t hear another Eli vs. Peyton discussion the rest of my life I’d be a saner person. For once, I just want to appreciate what Eli Manning has accomplished and know that not every quarterback is on his level.

Based on some of the comments coming out of Indianapolis these days, it would appear as though Peyton Manning’s career with the Colts is coming to an end.

Such as life. Times change, people separate, memories fade. Why should sports be any different?

According to ESPN NFL Business Analyst Andrew Brandt, it would cost the Colts $50.5 million to keep Manning and Andrew Luck on the same roster in 2012. Manning’s option is $28 million in addition to a $7.4 million salary while the No. 1 overall pick will receive approximately $15.1 million in bonus plus salary in 2012. Thus, it doesn’t make sense financially for the Colts to pay Manning and draft Luck while trying to fill holes all over a depleted roster.

It doesn’t make sense from a risk/reward standpoint either. Manning is 35 and is still trying to recover from neck surgery that he had last May. I’m not a doctor but when you listen to other athletes talk about the same nerve damage that Manning has, it’s feasible that he could have complications the rest of his career. That’s why there’s still plenty of speculation about whether or not he’ll ever play again.

I’m not trying to be cold because I’m very aware of what Manning has meant to the Colts franchise over these past 14 seasons. But former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi said it best when he stated that he would rather be accused of getting rid of a player a year too early rather than a year too late. This is a business decision and the right business decision for the Colts is to part ways with Manning and draft their future signal caller while they have that chance. There are teams like the Browns, Dolphins, Bills and Redskins who continuously fail to address their quarterback situation and the Colts have a golden opportunity to replace one franchise signal caller with another in just one fell swoop. Cold? Probably. But smart? Definitely.

Let’s not overlook the fact that this could be a good thing for Manning as well. During John Elway’s final years he essentially took a backseat to Terrell Davis because the Broncos became Davis’ team. He won two Super Bowls handing the ball off to Davis and throwing when he had to, but Manning doesn’t have that same fortune. The Colts proved last year that they’re a serious rebuilding project. At this point in his career, Manning shouldn’t be at the helm of a rebuilding team: he should be trying to take one more shot at winning a Super Bowl just like Elway did. (Assuming of course that Manning is healthy enough to ever pick up a football again.)

In a perfect world the Colts would already have Manning’s replacement on their roster. But they don’t, and now this is the situation that they find themselves in. Separations are never easy and if the Colts do decide to move on from Manning, it will be a hard decision. But it doesn’t have to be difficult.

Times change, people separate, memories fade. That’s just life.

It now seems obvious that the Colts will be parting ways with Peyton Manning. Anything can happen at this point, but Peyton’s recent interview made it pretty clear that he wasn’t a part of the new direction in Indianapolis. You can’t blame them, as they will have Andrew Luck and they would need to pay Peyton a king’s ransom to stick around. The team needs to be rebuilt, and keeping Peyton just delays the process.

The NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora makes a pretty good case that Arizona and Seattle are the two most likely spots.

While the rest of the NFL world is seemingly transfixed on whether or not the Colts would select Stanford’s Andrew Luck if they received the No. 1 overall pick next April, their injured franchise quarterback still hopes to play this season.

Peyton Manning told reporters on Thursday that he hopes to return to practice this year and still holds out hope of playing if doctors deem him clear to play. He underwent a second surgery on his neck on September 8 and even though he hasn’t played a snap, the Colts have yet to place him on injured reserve.

Of course, the Colts face a much bigger issue than whether or not to free up a roster spot by placing Manning on I.R. They must decide whether to opt out of Manning’s five-year contract or pay him a $28 million bonus to keep him on the 53-man roster. Some in Indianapolis who follow the team closely believe that Manning’s chances of playing again are less than 50-percent.

One of those followers is long-time beat writer Phillip B. Wilson of the Indianapolis Star, who says he’s “maybe even 30-70” on whether or not Manning takes another snap. Considering how close Wilson has been to the situation over the years, it’s rather eye opening to see the beat writer spit out those odds.

For now, it’s still a waiting game. Manning hopes he’ll return next season but surely the Colts would trade one down year for three-to-five more years of Peyton under center. But whether he’ll be able to play ever again is the question.

The Houston Texans confirmed that Mario Williams will be placed on IR and will be out for the rest of the season. Williams injured his pectoral muscle, with many speculating that he suffered a tear. Williams has been a dominant pass rusher for the Texans throughout his career and this year he had five sacks. Williams played defensive end in the 4-3 alignment, but this season he made the move to outside linebacker in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense. The transition had been going well until the injury.

Coach Gary Kubiak reacted to the news on the team’s official website:

I feel so bad for Mario because man, he’s been such a heck of a player, and what we’re doing to me is really going to blossom his career from now on. I think he had really taken to the position he’s playing. He was improving every day in practice, improving in every game and really enjoying – I think I’ve never seen him so upbeat about what was going on – and to lose him on a freak play, it doesn’t look like much at all.

The Texans can’t seem to catch a break. The team was poised for a breakout season with the Colts floundering in Peyton Manning’s absence, and now they lose their best player on defense.

Hey, I’m guilty of it. We’re all guilty of it. We see a player get seriously injured and one of the first statements out of someone’s mouth is, “This may be career-threatening.”

The latest example of this is Peyton Manning. He recently had his second neck surgery in less than five months and at least one clown in the media wrote last week about how the Colts may wind up with Andrew Luck in next year’s draft. We live in a world where present news is old news and everyone has a blog nowadays so getting a jump on a story often takes precedence. But the media (and fans too, because they’re just as guilty even though the media provides a nice patsy for them) could learn a thing or two about Manning’s situation from Tom Brady.

As I watched Brady carve up the Dolphins for 517 yards and four touchdowns on Monday night, I had to laugh thinking about Matt Cassel’s 2008 season. He was so good that year that some wondered if the Pats should trade Brady and go with the younger Cassel at quarterback.

The idea wasn’t that far-fetched either. At the time, there was no timetable set for Brady’s return after he had season-ending knee surgery earlier in the year. Nobody knew when he would return in ’09, or if he would return at all. Cassel was also set to become a free agent, which further complicated the situation. If the Pats traded him or allowed him to leave via free agency, they risked not having an experienced quarterback for 2009 if Brady couldn’t recover.

Brady was also 32 at the time and while guys like Kurt Warner, Kerry Collins and even Jeff Garcia proved that they could be effective past their 35th birthday, there was no guarantee that Brady would ever be what he was. It was an interesting time in New England and the media was having a field day with the possibilities.

But in hindsight, all of the Brady trade talk seems absolutely ridiculous now. First and foremost, the Patriots never gave any indication that they were willing to trade Brady. None at all, in fact. It was the media that continued to stir up controversy and while Cassel did lead the Chiefs to the playoffs last season, he continues to be a question mark for Kansas City.

Meanwhile, at 34-years old, Brady just turned in his best single-game performance in the last three seasons. Nobody is going to confuse Miami’s defense with the ’85 Bears but the Dolphins aren’t pushovers on that side of the ball either. It helped that they were winded all night but the bottom line is that Brady was marvelous.

That’s why the media needs to pump the brakes when it comes to Manning’s injury. Granted, we’re not comparing apples to apples because the two injuries aren’t the same. Brady dealt with a knee injury while Manning just had a one-level cervical neck fusion. Both injuries are gruesome, but we simply cannot compare them.

That said, Brady’s situation should give everyone a moment of pause when it comes to Manning. Maybe Peyton won’t play this season but it doesn’t mean his career is over. Before anyone knew the severity of Manning’s injury, it would have been difficult to find one person willing to say his career is winding down – even at 35. In fact, maybe in three years everyone will have forgotten that he even had two surgeries as he’s playing in his third or fourth Super Bowl. Who knows? Patience is the key at this point.

Just ask Tom Brady.