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Due to the all of the upheaval that has taken place in the Indianapolis Colts organization over the past two months, Peyton Manning sounds less certain about his future with the team than ever before. First the President-GM father-son combo of Bill and Chris Polian were fired earlier this month, and then head coach Jim Caldwell — Manning’s last remaining familiar face within the team leadership apart from Irsay — was let go a week ago. Meanwhile, with it looking more and more likely that the Colts will take Andrew Luck with the first pick in the draft, Manning’s future is more tenuous than ever before.

The speculation that Manning might be on his way out at some point this season took an even more ominous turn on Tuesday when he admitted to the Indianapolis Star that he has “no idea” right now what his future with the team will be. He said that he and Irsay would sit down together in the near future to talk it over, and that even if he leaves he will do so with no ill-will towards the team, but it was hard to read his comments without thinking that he may already be planning on playing elsewhere next season — assuming that he is healthy enough to play at all.

Perhaps the most telling quote that he gave spoke to his unhappiness about the changes that are being made within the organization, and suggested that it might be best for everyone involved for him to move on:

“I’m not in a very good place for healing, let’s say that. It’s not a real good environment down there right now, to say the least. Everybody’s walking around on eggshells. I don’t recognize our building right now. There’s such complete and total change.

“I guess it’s the reality of the football world, just not something I’ve had to deal with very often. But I’m in there every day, so I have to sit there and see it. Everybody’s being evaluated and I’m no different. It’s not the best environment. I just want to pay tribute to all those guys. It’s unfortunate because so many of them have been such a big part of so many big wins here, and this is so…sudden. Their keys didn’t work the next day. There’s no other way to do it? I don’t know. That’s hard to see, all these people leaving. And I may be behind them. Who knows?”

Should Manning be cut or traded, there will certainly be no shortage of suitors for his services. The New York Jets have already been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Manning due to Mark Sanchez’s lack of progress, and their hypothetical interest was confirmed again on Tuesday to the NY Daily News by a source with the team. And of course, if there’s an aging, high-priced talent to be had, we all know that the Dan Snyder will be interested in bringing him on board with the Washington Redskins.

No matter what, all of the different variables will make this a fascinating scenario as it plays out over the next few months.

— Craig Lowell