The most coveted free agent in football is not a player. He's a personnel executive/coach/broadcaster with zero experience in any endeavor, but one of the most famous names in the sport.
Despite the lack of experience, he can have just about any open job he covets, all he's got to do is say the word.
The man is Peyton Manning and, according to his father, he will return to football at some point -- just not today, and probably not tomorrow, either.
"Peyton, somewhere along the line, would like to be back in football — in ownership or front office or something," Archie told USA Today.
Manning retired from football in 2016 and has since remained busy, of late hosting a web series, Peyton's Places, for ESPN+ and NFL Films. As he told the Indianapolis Starover the summer:
"I have my schedule planned for the next year ... to the irritation of some family members," he said.
So, please, don't ask him how retirement is going.
"I’m not on my couch. I’m not sleeping in. … I have a version of work."
Still, that hasn't stopped interested parties from approaching him. He turned down an opportunity to join Monday Night Footballearlier this year, and he told Peter King that he's held discussions with unnamed NFL teams about running their personnel operations.
"I’ve had talks with a few teams, but we never got into any type of negotiation," he said.
All Manning has to do to get a GM job, a team president job, a coaching job, a broadcasting job -- or, heck, maybe all of them at once -- all he has to do is say the word. And, according to his father, at some point he'll be ready to say it.