With Chris Ballard out as Colts general manager, speculation has grown over who might lead the franchise next, and Peyton Manning’s connection to the organization has made him a frequent topic. Yet the former teammate has made his position clear: he doesn’t see a front-office return happening.

Speaking on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams, the Colts great Dwight Freeney admitted he has no inside information on the matter.

“I don’t know anything about it, to be quite honest with you, and I’ll be shocked if he did it,” Dwight Freeney said.

He didn’t slam the door completely, though. He just doesn’t see it happening anytime soon.

“I mean, obviously Peyton’s doing a lot,” he added. “Peyton has his kids, and he’s doing his football, he has his business, his production business, and he’s having fun doing his thing, right? And it’ll be hard for me to see him doing that right now. Maybe years to come, but right now, I don’t see it.”

Freeney has a point about how busy Manning is. These days he’s as recognizable as a businessman, corporate pitchman, showing up in commercials for insurance, beer, and uniform delivery companies.

Still, nobody questions his football brain. Colts fans get a regular reminder whenever he and his brother Eli dissect games live on their Monday Night Football alternate broadcast.

The speculation exists because the Colts have an opening. Chris Ballard was fired on Monday, October 19, after Indianapolis stumbled to a 2-4 start. He spent nearly a decade as general manager, and for most of that stretch the team was merely average, losing more games than it won.

The trade for Sauce Gardner and the big extension handed to Daniel Jones put him on thin ice, and the loss to the previously winless Titans 26-20 finished the job. Fans immediately started asking who comes next.

Dan Patrick offered one answer. Shortly after the firing, he heard from a source that owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon should be calling Manning first, if she hadn’t already.

“The Colts’ first call will be/has been to Peyton Manning,” Patrick said, reading from his phone on the Dan Patrick Show. “The call will not only get names and suggestions, but the call will explore whether or not Peyton would be interested in being a general manager for the Colts as the entry point that would include ownership interest in the Colts. This would be the first major hire by Jim Irsay’s (daughters), the next generation.”

He kept going.

“So now you have an opportunity to put Peyton back in Indy as a G.M. and part owner. And he gets to pick his quarterback. So now all of a sudden, the community is going to love this. The league would love this. Would Peyton love this?”

There’s a wrinkle, though. Mike Chappell of Fox59/CBS4 reported that the Colts haven’t reached out to Manning so far. As Chappell pointed out, that doesn’t mean a call won’t come later.

Manning, who was released by the Colts in 2012, has been floated as a possible Colts GM for years, and it’s easy to see why. He is a franchise legend and one of the most respected figures in the league. Manning won Super Bowl XLI with Indianapolis and collected four NFL MVP awards there, then won Super Bowl 50 and another MVP award after moving to the Denver Broncos.

Reports suggest he’s being strongly considered for the job, and Robert Griffin III has now publicly pushed for it.

“The Indianapolis Colts should hire Peyton Manning as their new GM,” RGIII said, without digging into specifics.

For now, it comes down to whether Manning wants to trade his busy, comfortable life for the pressure of rebuilding the team he once led.