Now that Peyton Manning has announced that the Denver Broncos will be his team in 2012, there is still more pieces of the puzzle that will now begin to fall into place before the drama of this soap opera is over and done with. With Manning in Denver, what will happen to Tim Tebow? Where will free agent QB Alex Smith end up? Will he re-sign with San Francisco, or be hurt by this situation enough to leave the Super Bowl contenders and bolt to the Miami Dolphins?
Tebow to Miami seems like the logical move and while no one will ever confuse Tebow with Manning, he is a University of Florida product and would fill seats and energize the fanbase even if that does not necessarily translate into victories. Could Tebow be traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars, which is actually close to the University of Florida (Gainesville) than Miami is?
Anywhere in Florida that Tebow goes will result in a media explosion and allow Tebow-mania to remain intact. Both the Dolphins and Jaguars are in need of a quarterback and while Jacksonville just drafted Blaine Gabbert in 2011, he has not had any success and the team has been exploring its options. If Tebow does indeed end up in Miami and Jacksonville says they are invested in Gabbert's growth, Alex Smith would probably return to San Francisco.
That would leave the Cleveland Browns with the decision of whether to stay put with QB Colt McCoy or try to make the change to drafting Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannenhill. Tannenhill has been thought to be the best QB remaining in the NFL draft with both Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III already spoken for in the first two over all picks. If the Browns decline to take him, there is a very good chance that he could fall not only to later in the round but perhaps even into the second round.
The falling of the dominoes are far from over as a result of the Peyton Manning decision. One thing that is sure to the Baltimore Ravens and their fans is this: Not only will Baltimore be hosting the Denver Broncos at home in the 2012 regular season, now they will the chance to defeat a team that is led by GM John Elway, who spurned Baltimore in the 1983 draft as well as their nemesis, Peyton Manning, who has beaten Baltimore every time he has played them since first coming into the league.