Peyton Manning back for 18th NFL season

It's official - Peyton Manning takes a small pay cut to continue as quarterback for the Denver Broncos and he'll be 39 when he begins his 18th NFL season.

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning passed his physical and signed his revised contract on Thursday.

"We're glad to work something out with Peyton so that he will be part of our team this season," Broncos general manager John Elway said.

The five-time NFL MVP agreed on Thursday to a $US4 million ($A5.12 million) cut to his previous wage of $US15 million ($A19.18 million), but he can earn all of it back through incentives, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

He'd get $US2 million ($A2.56 million) each for winning the AFC title and the Super Bowl.

Manning mulled retirement after the Broncos' playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts. But he determined he still had the health and hunger to keep playing at age 39, and keep pursuing another Super Bowl title.

Manning, who won a Super Bowl with the Colts in 2006, met with Elway a few weeks ago after taking some time to decompress from an arduous season, and told him he wasn't ready to retire. Elway asked him to take a pay cut, and the sides hashed out a new deal on Wednesday.

Every year, the Broncos medical staff takes a look at his surgically repaired neck to make sure there's not any degeneration in the discs above and below those fused in 2011.

Manning didn't meet with reporters after visiting team headquarters to get a clean bill of health, and put his signature on the revised contract, which still calls for him to make $US19 million ($A24.30 million) in 2016.

Manning, who turns 39 on March 24, will return to Denver for the start of offseason workouts on April 13.


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Source: AAP


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