Peyton Manning's Contenders Include 49ers It only seems as if Peyton Manning has been looking for a new job for much longer than a week, with the helicopters and private jets and endless footage of him as he gets into another car. But since the Indianapolis Colts released him, and since he started his hunt last Friday with a visit to Denver, he has already met with and eliminated two teams (the Arizona Cardinals and the Miami Dolphins), made clear to several more than he would not consider them, and made the Broncos and the Tennessee Titans finalists. Manning even pulled off what, until Friday, seemed impossible in his closely-scrutinized march through free agency - a secret. The San Francisco 49ers, who have publicly insisted that Alex Smith would remain their starting quarterback, emerged as a surprise contender for Manning after ESPN reported Friday that Coach Jim Harbaugh watched Manning throw on Tuesday at Duke University - where he has been working out in recent months - and that 49ers doctors gave Manning a physical later in the week. The 49ers" follow-up with an examination of Manning, who is recovering from four surgical procedures on his neck that caused him to miss the 2011 season and affected his arm strength, suggests that Manning threw well enough for them to remain interested. San Francisco is the best team that is currently interested in Manning: it lost in overtime to the Giants in the N.F.C. championship game, and has one of the league's top defenses. What appeared to be the 49ers" lack of interest in Manning, until now, had been something of a puzzle. ESPN said Manning had not visited the 49ers; facilities in Santa Clara, Calif. Smith and the 49ers have been in contract negotiations, but a deal has not been completed. After Manning worked out for Broncos officials, Denver's top football executive, John Elway, who is leading the team's pursuit of Manning, indicated that he, too, was happy with how Manning was throwing. "We enjoyed visiting with Peyton today in N.C.," Elway wrote on his Twitter feed. He threw the ball great and looked very comfortable out there. Watching him throw today was the next step in this important process for our team and Peyton. It was a productive visit and went well. Manning is still expected to throw for the Titans. In recent days, Manning narrowed the field. The Miami Dolphins have turned their attention to Matt Flynn, the former Packers backup; the new Dolphins Coach Joe Philbin worked with him in Green Bay. And on Friday, the Arizona Cardinals paid a $7 million option to Kevin Kolb, whom they acquired in a trade last off-season, after Manning told them they were out of the running. "Acquiring Peyton Manning is no longer an option for us," Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt said. Obviously something very unique and unexpected presented itself. We've said it many times: if there's an opportunity to make our team better, we'll explore it. We view the potential of adding a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback as one of those. "In the end it didn't work out," he added. JETS SIGN SANCHEZ BACKUP After three days of relative inactivity on the free-agent front, the Jets signed a No. 2 quarterback and bolstered their receiving corps. He was joined by receiver Chaz Schilens, who will be reunited with his position coach in Oakland, Sanjay Lal. Sanchez's new contract extension, which guarantees him $20.5 million through 2013, might have deterred other candidates, but Stanton, 27, was probably eager for a promotion. As the Lions" third-string quarterback in 2011, he did not throw a pass. Schilens's best attributes are his speed and his size - he is listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 225 pounds - and the Jets hope he can overcome injury concerns to emerge as a downfield threat for Sanchez.