Given that Peyton Manning needs to get only his neck and not his head examined before he can resume playing in the NFL, the idea that the Colts quarterback would make the Jets his last career stop is an absolute pipe dream.

Just forget it. Wipe it out of your mind. He's not coming to New York, and the fact that it's even being treated as a realistic possibility is just one last desperate gasp of Jets hubris playing out from muscle memory before everyone snaps back to reality and admits the obvious.

Any NFL player with attractive options -- which Manning will surely have if he's given a clean bill of health -- would be nuts to come to the mess that is the Jets' franchise right now.

Can't wait for Peyton Manning to become a Jet? Oh, you poor souls. Brian Spurlock/US Presswire

First of all, it wouldn't be Manning's style. The big-talking, loudmouth, anything-goes image that Rex Ryan has molded the franchise into has become the laughingstock of the NFL. And Manning has played his entire career for what was one of the most stable franchises in sports, a place so buttoned-down and averse to change, the Colts kept the same staff and ran the same offensive system built around him year after year. The Colts were so loathe to change, things literally fell apart without Manning this season.

Forget about the Tom Moore connection, too.

Moore, the Colts' longtime offensive coach, has been helping the Jets from semi-retirement. But the opinion that's likely to carry the most weight with Peyton will come from his brother Eli, who's had a first-row seat as the Jets self-destructed these last four weeks. Hell, Eli and the Giants reveled in playing a big part in it by shutting up the Jets on Christmas Eve.

Here's what Eli could tell Peyton, if Peyton weren't already paying attention: The Jets have been exposed as a snarl of competing egos and agendas. In their locker room, backstabbing and finger pointing are the norm.

Ryan made the extraordinary admission that he didn't have the pulse of the team all year. He conceded he didn't pay enough attention to the offense, and guess what? On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and offensive line coach Bill Callahan left in disgust. But wideout Santonio Holmes, who was ripped by teammates as a locker room cancer and quitter, is still here. And the Jets' incumbent quarterback, Mark Sanchez, has been turned into one of those carnival acts where they latch someone to a wagon wheel and throws knives at him as he spins round and round.

Sanchez may no more be the answer than Chad Pennington was.

But don't compare getting Manning to the Jets landing Brett Favre.