Ten years ago you didn’t think twice about paying a versatile player like Ray Rice top market value. Given his age, his production, and his contribution in an offense, a team wouldn’t balk at his price tag.

But times are a changing.

Rice is believed to be seeking $10 million a year from the Baltimore Ravens, who are reportedly unwilling to pay their top offensive piece Adrian Peterson-type money. AP just signed a seven-year, $96 million extension with the Vikings last September and the deal includes $36 million in guaranteed money. In that same month, Chris Johnson signed a six-year, $55.26 million deal with the Titans that also included $30 million in guarantees.
Seeing as how Peterson tore his ACL and Johnson produced his worst season as a pro, you can understand why the Ravens are hesitant to pay Rice what he wants. The other issue is that running backs aren’t worth what they were 10, or even seven years ago. Nowadays, most teams believe that investing big money in a running back is unnecessary given how you can find a productive back in the middle rounds of the draft. Plus, by the time backs are 30 their production dips dramatically and they prove they’re not worth the investment.

That said, Rice shouldn’t be criticized for trying to cash in during his prime. As previously noted, he’s been an extremely productive back and for all intents and purposes, has been the entire Baltimore offense at times. NFL players have a very small window in which to be productive and get that long-term contract before the game pushes them out. Rice is merely protecting his biggest investment (himself) and in no way is that intended to make him sound selfish.

But unfortunately for Rice, he also plays running back in a passing era. No team, not even the Ravens after having a front row seat to his splendor over the last four years, is going to pay a running back $10 million a year. That’s just the way it is.

So what’s the solution? Rice should take a long, hard look at the contract LeSean McCoy just signed with the Eagles. “Shady” received a six-year, $45.615 million contract that also includes $20.765 million in guaranteed money. While McCoy is “only” making $7.5 million a year, the guaranteed portion of the contract is what really matters. No, Rice wouldn’t receive $30-plus million in guaranteed money like Peterson or Johnson, but $20 million for a running back in this era wouldn’t be chump change either.

If you’re Rice, you would hate to feel like your compromising but he and his agent must realize that he’s not going to get a deal worth $10 million a year, which also includes with $30 million in guarantees. All things being considered, McCoy’s contract should be what Rice his ultimately shooting for.

Even though this moment has been coming for a couple of months, it still seems sudden. Weird. Wrong even.

I can still remember thinking that the Colts made a poor decision by drafting Peyton Manning instead of Ryan Leaf. “Look at this feet,” I used to say while watching Tennessee games. “He’s so jittery in the pocket. He’s going to be an erratic passer in the NFL.”

Fifteen seasons, two Super Bowl appearances, four MVP awards, 11 Pro Bowls, and gobs of passing records later and the Peyton Manning era is officially over in Indianapolis. The moment hardly seems real. We’ve gotten so used to Manning peering through that blue facemask with the horseshoes on each side of his helmet that it’s hard to imagine him in any other uniform. I kind of figured he would just go on playing forever, barking out signals for the Colts well into his 80s.

Nobody is at fault for this separation. This is life after all, where things ultimately come to an end. The Indianapolis Colts were around 45 years prior to Manning arriving in 1998 and they’ll be around long after he’s gone, too. Even for as much as he’s meant to the organization, Manning will inevitability be just one key figure in an organization that also had the pleasure of watching Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, and John Mackey don its uniform. The Colts are a rebuilding team now and rebuilding teams don’t pay $28 million roster bonuses to 35-year-old quarterbacks coming off multiple neck surgeries. Their horrific 2011 season has given them a chance to draft the next Peyton Manning and they can’t forgo that opportunity because they’re sentimentally tied to one of the greatest players their organization has ever seen. It’s time to move on.

Manning will move on as well. As a football fan it’s exciting to listen to him talk about continuing his career, barring his health is okay, of course. We’ve never been treated to Peyton Manning the free agent and while he isn’t 26 anymore, it’s fun to read speculation about the Jets, Dolphins, and Chiefs being interested in his services. The storylines will be endless, especially if he winds up in New York with his brother.

Many people assume that he’s damaged goods and maybe he is. Maybe he’ll never be able to throw a pass longer than 15 yards and maybe he’ll be a disaster next year. Maybe he should hang ‘em up so that he doesn’t risk more damage to his health.

But what if he can still play? Can you imagine what he’d do for a team like the Jets, a team that has been starved for good quarterback play since Rex Ryan became their head coach in 2009? He may never be the Peyton of old but he doesn’t have to be in order to win another Super Bowl. The 1997 and 1998 Denver Broncos were Terrell Davis’ teams – not John Elway’s. But because Elway knew how to take a step back, the Broncos were very successful with him under center.

Or maybe he won’t have an Elway-like finish to his career. So be it. Manning will still go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played the game and people will remember him in Indy blue and white. But thanks to his decision to keep playing, football fans will be treated to a “bonus round” of sorts. It certainly won’t be the same as watching him orchestrate the Colts’ offense while dissecting defenses like a surgeon, but it’ll be something new and fresh.

The Peyton Manning era in Indianapolis is over and sooner rather than later, the Peyton Manning NFL era will have concluded as well. But for now, I’m going to enjoy watching that jittery-footed Peyton give it one more shot in another team’s uniform.

Jeff Fisher has finally come to a decision on which rebuilding process he wants to overtake:

He’s headed to the “Show Me State.”

The St. Louis Rams have named Fisher as head coach per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Fisher chose the Rams over the Miami Dolphins apparently due to the structure that St. Louis offered. One can only estimate what that means, although the Rams do have a potential franchise quarterback in Sam Bradford, a workhorse back in Steven Jackson, and the No. 2 overall pick in next April’s draft. At least from the outset, there appears to be more to work with for Fisher in St. Louis than in Miami.

The Rams are also expected to make Fisher one of the league’s highest-paid head coaches and he will reportedly have a say in who the team will hire as general manager.

Fisher had the NFL’s fifth highest winning percentage from 1998 to 2008, before falling out of favor in Tennessee. It was no secret that he and former No. 3 overall pick Vince Young didn’t have the best relationship, which put strain on the entire Titans organization. Now he has an opportunity to work with a young man in Bradford who had a ton of success in his rookie season but took a step backwards in his sophomore campaign. (Mostly due to injuries, a new offensive system and an overall lack of talent around him.)

This was exactly the type of hire that St. Louis fans were hoping for. Following back-to-back losing tenures of Scott Linehan and Steve Spagnuolo, respectively, Rams patrons were clamoring for a big name. Outside of maybe Jon Gruden, who reportedly wants to stay in TV for the time being, the team couldn’t have landed a bigger name in Fisher.

At least on the surface, this would appear to be a great fit. But Fisher has a lot of work to do in order to get the Rams to where the franchise was early last decade.

Oakland Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain has been arrested in connection with a shooting that occurred on Wednesday evening in his hometown of Decatur, Alabama.

McClain, 23, has been charged with discharging a firearm within city limits, which is a third degree assault, as well as menacing and reckless endangerment. According to Decatur police, McClain allegedly stood over another man with a pistol and aimed it at the victim’s head. When the victim begged for his life, McClain allegedly fired a shot past the man’s ear.

The incident stemmed from a fight that occurred around 10:20 p.m. CST on Wednesday night. The victim allegedly got into a fight with a man identified as Jerradius Willingham, who was also booked in connection with the situation. During the fight, the victim sustained injuries to his head and face and was bleeding from the nose and mouth while giving his report to police officers. The victim then drove himself to the hospital following questioning.

This isn’t the only shooting incident that McClain has been involved in during the past year. In January, someone shot at the linebacker’s Chevy Tahoe and while McClain was unharmed, the police did remove one bullet from the rear hatch of his SUV. McClain was also traveling in Alabama at the time.

The Raiders selected McClain with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2010 draft. He’s been limited this season due to an ankle injury but McClain has recorded 58 tackles thus far. He apparently missed practice on Wednesday while attending his grandfather’s funeral.

The Raiders have yet to comment on the shooting outside of to say that they are aware of the situation. McClain’s status for this Sunday’s game against the Titans is uncertain as of this writing and the NFL is currently looking into the incident. As of right now it’s hard to gauge whether or not he’ll be suspended but it’s not a stretch to say that his season may be in doubt. Losing McClain for the rest of the year would be a massive blow to an Oakland team that is currently in first place in the AFC West and is one game up on Denver in the division.

The Raiders play at Tennessee Miami this Sunday.

Mike Florio is reporting that Carson Palmer has been traded by the Cincinnati Bengals to the Oakland Raiders. Jay Glazer broke the story and the compensation appears to be a first-round pick in 2012 and a conditional pick in 2013 which is a second-rounder that could become a first-rounder.

This deal can be a huge win for both teams. The Bengals get two high draft picks for a player who basically told them to go to hell. The Raiders all of a sudden have a front-line quarterback to pair with their powerful running game. They are mortgaging the future, but they must see real potential to get to the playoffs and compete this season. Ironically, this is a the type of deal All Davis would have made.

Palmer has been an excellent quarterback for years, but his skills seem to have slipped a bit. That said, he has a big arm, and he can rejuvenate his career on a team with a running game.

As for the Bengals, everyone left them for dead at the beginning of the season because they had a rookie quarterback, but the Bengals have a solid defense and Dalton looks pretty good so far. Now they have more picks to build for the future.