Now that he's extinguished all the candles, Peyton Manning is itching to start preparing for his NFL comeback. All he has to do now is make sure he doesn't get his new team in trouble in the process.
"I'm going to have to get up to speed on the rules," Manning told The Denver Post in Sunday's edition. "I know we don't have nearly as much time as we used to. It's like free agency. It was never an issue for me before. I didn't know the rules there either. ... I've got a lot to study."
Like a man who falls into a coma and awakens years later to find the world has moved on without him, Manning re-enters a league with different offseason rules thanks to a new collective bargaining agreement.
According to the new CBA (via The Post):
• Manning can organize workouts on his own with his new teammates until April 16. Those workouts cannot take place at the Broncos' Dove Valley complex and cannot be supervised by any member of the coaching staff.
• Manning cannot use the practice fields at Dove Valley under the supervision or instruction of the coaching staff until May 2.
• Manning can throw with the team's medical and training staff as part of his recovery from neck surgery. But those throwing sessions cannot include any Broncos receivers under contract with the team until April 16.
• Manning can get a playbook for "voluntary study," but the playbook must have been available to any other player on the roster as well. However, with any playbook the Broncos would have given to Manning, the team cannot include any additional coaching materials, and the coaches cannot answer any of his questions until April 16.
• Manning cannot call Tim Tebow, offer him his job back, then yell "PYSCH!" and hang up as Eli and Cooper cackle in the background.
OK, we made the last one up. Just keeping you on your toes on a Sunday.
