If facing his nemesis, in what will probably be the final meeting between the two quarterbacks, isn’t enough to get Peyton out of bed, maybe some cold hard cash will. Peyton has an escalator in his contract that will be triggered if his team plays in the Super Bowl. CBS Sports had the more on how much the payday would be:
“$2 million, to be specific…One caveat: Peyton has to play in 70 percent of the offensive snaps in order to qualify. Watching a Brock Osweiler-led comeback would mean advancing but not getting paid depending on how much time Osweiler played…Manning can earn another $2 million if the Broncos beat the Patriots and then win the Super Bowl, giving him a potential incentive of earning $4 million over the next couple of weeks.”
You would think as you get more money it would become less important to have it, but you’re wrong. It’s the opposite. The more money you have, the more responsibility you have, and the more reasons why you have to spend that money. It’s not like that extra $4 million wouldn’t be noticed in Manning’s bank account, but I don’t think he will be thinking about it versus New England. Not with a helmet that tight.