Could Peyton Manning return to Indianapolis to take over the Colts' football operations side?
After the team fired general manager Chris Ballard on Monday, sports broadcasting legend Dan Patrick shared on his Monday show that the franchise will reach out to Manning first after Ballard's exit.
Per Patrick, the conversation will gauge not only Manning's opinions on possible Ballard successors, but Manning's interest in taking over for Ballard as the team's general manager and possibly having ownership in the Colts as well.
"Now, you have an opportunity to put Peyton back in Indy as a GM and part-owner, and he gets to pick his quarterback," Patrick explained as he broke the news.
"The Colts' first call will be/has been to Peyton Manning." — DP shares
what his source has told him. pic.twitter.com/MgTbuJIxhW
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) October 19, 2026
Manning could follow in the steps of John Elway, who ran the Broncos' football operations side for a number of years, and John Lynch, who works as the San Francisco 49ers' general manager.
However, we wonder if Manning would want what Matt Ryan has in Atlanta with the Falcons: a President of Football role where he oversees all of the football operations (including the coaching staff) and has a general manager with more field experience in scouting and roster-building reporting to him.
In that case, Manning would just report to Colts ownership, where he'd apparently have a stake in the operation.
In this case, Manning would be a combo of what Ryan is to the Falcons and what Tom Brady is as a part owner in the Las Vegas Raiders. He'd essentially run the Colts for ownership while having a say even at that level. It would be an immense level of power for the player with a statue outside of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
We're not sure what's next for the Colts or if Manning would even be interested, but it's a fascinating possibility.
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This article originally appeared on For The Win: Could Peyton Manning take over as Colts GM? Big report surfaces
