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What If... the Seahawks Signed Peyton Manning?

Coach Pete Carroll flew to Denver, but he never managed to meet with Manning in the elusive chase for the future Hall of Fame quarterback. How differently would things look if Carroll was given a chance to speak with him and the star signed with Seattle?

Hindsight is 20/20, but every NFL franchise has made regrettable decisions over the years they’d love to go back in time and remedy. In a 10-part series, the Seahawk Maven staff will take a closer look at some of the biggest “What If?” scenarios in Seahawks history and investigate how things could’ve played out in an alternate universe.

Following the 2011 campaign, the Seahawks looked to be trending upward in the NFC West. Though the team missed the playoffs with a 7-9 record, they finished coach Pete Carroll's second season at the helm on a strong note, winning five of their final eight games.

As the year progressed, a young nucleus of players began to emerge for Seattle, particularly on defense. Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor both made their first Pro Bowl in their second seasons, Richard Sherman and K.J. Wright vaulted into the starting lineup midway through the season as rookies, and Marshawn Lynch rushed for over 1,200 yards for the first time in his career.

Only one thing stood between Seattle being a legitimate contender and remaining a third or fourth place team in the NFC West. One year after letting Matt Hasselbeck walk, they still needed to find a franchise quarterback.

As a one-year stop-gap option, the late Tarvaris Jackson proved serviceable for Seattle and commanded respect from his teammates playing through a painful pectoral injury. But after throwing just 14 touchdowns in 15 games, he wasn't the long-term answer under center for the organization.

Heading into a critical offseason, general manager John Schneider and Carroll knew they were just a quarterback away from being a threat in the NFC. Believing they had the talented roster necessary to reel in a big fish, the Seahawks zeroed in on one of the best gunslingers to ever play the game.

"If they had signed Peyton Manning," NBC's Peter King said on Sports Illustrated's "The Record" podcast. "They would not have gone after Russell Wilson. So that's one little X factor here."

After making the Pro Bowl 11 of the previous 12 seasons, Manning missed the entire 2011 season recovering from multiple neck surgeries, including a spinal fusion procedure that casted doubt whether he'd ever play again. With the Colts winning just two games without him, they earned the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, setting them up nicely to draft his replacement in Andrew Luck.

Ready to initiate a quick rebuild, Indianapolis chose to waive Manning on March 7, 2012, making him one of the most sought after free agents in modern NFL history. After being medically cleared to return, several teams coveted his services, including the Dolphins, Cardinals, and Titans.

As a free agent for the first time, Manning operated differently than most players. He reached out to teams he was interested in playing for and was clear up front with teams if he wasn't interested in playing for them. Unfortunately for Carroll and Schneider, the Seahawks fell in the second category.

But Carroll believed he could persuade Manning to sign with Seattle if he had an opportunity to meet with the five-time First-Team All-Pro.

According to King, Carroll flew to Denver when Manning set up a trip to visit with the Broncos. His hope? He'd be able to speak with the star quarterback and make a pitch in person.

"When he visited the Broncos on this trip, the Seattle Seahawks and Pete Carroll flew to the airport right near the Broncos facility, even though Manning said he really didn't want them to do that," King said. "And Manning didn't go meet Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll flew to Denver chasing Peyton Manning and Manning never met with him. He got back on the plane and just flew back to Seattle. It was really kind of a crazy time."

Clearly not interested in playing for the Seahawks or even entertaining the possibility, King believes Manning was put off by Carroll flying to meet with him when he never made that arrangement as part of his free agent tour.

"Carroll was trying to make it as convenient as he could, but Manning - quite honestly, I never asked him this - but stuff like that bothers him. Like he didn't ask you to come. If he wanted you to come, he would have. But he's almost put off by the fact that you spent all this time and energy and fuel and whatever to come down here when I told you, it's not going to happen. I'm not doing it."

Leaving the Mile High City empty handed, Carroll and Schneider eventually signed Matt Flynn to a multi-year deal and used a third-round pick on Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson would beat out the high-priced veteran in training camp, becoming a starter in Week 1 and guiding the Seahawks to a playoff berth as a rookie.

Just two years later, Seattle would cross paths with Manning again in Super Bowl XLVIII. Led by Wilson and a stingy defense, the Seahawks ran the record-setting Broncos out of MetLife Stadium in a 43-8 throttling to win their first Lombardi Trophy.

While we will never know how things would have played out if Manning did meet with Carroll and decided to join the Seahawks, it'll always be worth wondering if he could have led the franchise to more than one Super Bowl title to close out his career. In the short run, the team may have been even more dominant.

With that said, Wilson remains one of the NFL's best quarterbacks and still has a ton of football ahead of him to pursue another Lombardi Trophy. In the long run, Seattle looks better positioned to contend than Denver, who has rolled through multiple quarterbacks since Manning retired in 2016.

Looking back, Manning's decision to ignore Carroll and sign with the Broncos ultimately worked out well for both franchises. The Seahawks found a franchise quarterback on day two of the draft and have made the playoffs in seven of the past eight seasons, while the Broncos eventually got back to the Super Bowl and earned Manning a second ring.