Peyton Manning has made his decision, telling his agent, Tom Condon, to open negotiations with ... the Denver Broncos.

Manning phoned the Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers to tell them of his decision to play for the Broncos, according to a report by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Signing Manning would appear to mean that Denver, according to Mortensen and ESPN’s Adam Schefter, will try to trade Tim Tebow.

Manning, the four-time MVP, became a free agent when he was released by the Indianapolis Colts on March 7. He’ll turn 36 on Saturday and missed all of last season after undergoing multiple neck surgeries and has been working to regain arm strength as his triceps nerve regenerates.

Peyton Manning called John Elway this morning to tell him he's looking forward to coming to play for him.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 19, 2012

He worked out for the 49ers and Titans last week, in addition to the Broncos and struck a relationship with John Elway, the Broncos’ Hall of Fame quarterback who is the team’s executive vice-president of football operations.

The Broncos, who are expected to have to pay at least $90 million for Manning, were a playoff team last season and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round — with Tebowmania in full swing. They lost to the New England Patriots, though, in the next round. Although Tebow was a fan favorite and deposed Kyle Orton, Elway and Coach John Fox realized his deficiencies. After Tebow led the Broncos to an 8-8 finish and a playoff berth, Elway had committed to Tebow as the starter in training camp, but no farther.

And now it’s apparent that the training camp starter will be Peyton Manning.

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