ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Peyton Manning is inching toward a historic repeat.
If he doesn't decide to retire in the next few days, the Denver Broncos will almost certainly release the iconic quarterback just like the Indianapolis Colts did four years ago under equally extraordinary circumstances.
The Super Bowl champs need the $19 million he's due in 2016 to address a host of other offseason needs, chief among them: paying his replacement.
Manning, who turns 40 in a couple of weeks, has been pondering his future since hoisting his second Super Bowl trophy last month after Denver's defense carried the Broncos to a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Manning's agent, Tom Condon, told 104.3 The Fan in Denver this week that the decision is a difficult one because Manning's love for the game remains so strong.
"To tell you the truth, I know that Peyton has not decided. The only thing he said is, `I want to take my time and I want to make a good decision. I don't want to go back on anything," Condon told the radio station Wednesday. "And then he said, `I really like to play.' And I said `OK, a year from now you'll say I really like to play and 20 years from now, you'll say I really like to play,'" (see full story).
NFL: Super Bowl sites to be decided in May
NEW YORK -- Sites for the Super Bowls in 2019, 2020 and 2021 will be decided at the NFL owners' meetings in May in Charlotte, North Carolina.
NFL
The league's Super Bowl Advisory Committee announced that Atlanta, Los Angeles, South Florida and Tampa would be in the running for Super Bowls 54 and 55. Previously, Atlanta, South Florida and Tampa were chosen as finalists for Super Bowl 53 in February 2019.
Next year's game is in Houston. The 2018 Super Bowl is in Minneapolis, where the Vikings will open their new stadium for the upcoming season.
The Falcons will be getting a new stadium for the 2017 season while existing stadiums for the Dolphins, Saints and Buccaneers are in the bidding. The Rams are relocating from St. Louis, but their new stadium won't be ready until 2019 (see full story).
Murder trial of Hernandez's friend gets underway
FALL RIVER, Mass. -- Jury selection in the murder trial of a friend of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is getting started.
Ernest Wallace's trial gets underway Thursday in Fall River Superior Court in Massachusetts.
Wallace is charged with murder in the June 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd, whose bullet-riddled body was found in an industrial park in North Attleborough, near the Rhode Island border. Lloyd was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee.
Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder in Lloyd's slaying and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors say Wallace and another man were with Hernandez on the night of Lloyd's killing and are being tried under the joint venture theory.
Wallace has denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.
Hernandez and Wallace are from Bristol, Connecticut.