Peyton Manning this afternoon is announcing his retirement after 18 seasons, and now that he "won't be pulling a salary ... his value is as a pitchman for everything from autos to auto insurance," according to Michael Arace of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. Manning currently endorses Gatorade, Papa John's, Nationwide Insurance, Buick, Nike and DirecTV (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 3/7). However, ESPN's Darren Rovell said it is likely Manning will not be "that active" in the endorsement game despite currently earning $10-12M a year off the field. Gatorade "doesn't really have retired athletes, except for Michael Jordan," so it is expected that deal "will probably go away." He could keep his deal with Nationwide "because they’re in the insurance category and that will speak to retired people, they can make that play." Manning also likely will be involved with Papa John's, as he "owns equity" in 30 franchises in Colorado. Rovell said, "I probably don't think he does the DirecTV deal, and I don't anticipate he's going to add a whole lot of deals." Rovell: "On the field, he's the biggest earner ever in the NFL with about $249 million in earnings. That’s a good deal of money, and I think over time we’re going to see athletes do less off the field, including autograph signings, just because they have so much money." Rovell projected Panthers QB Cam Newton will take over for Manning as the top endorser in the NFL, with Texans DE J.J. Watt "right behind him" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 3/6).
