It was clear to everyone from casual NFL fans to pro football statheads a couple of years that Eli Manning was clearly on the downside of his career.
Yet here we are, two games into 2019, and the New York Giants are still starting the two-time Super Bowl winner, with his heir apparent Daniel Jones waiting in the wings after he was the sixth overall selection in this year’s draft. And look at what happened on Sunday — after a stellar first series running the ball with Saquon Barkley, the passing attack fell short again and again.
Some of the blame can be on the lack of receiving weapons after the franchise dealt Odell Beckham Jr. and saw Sterling Shephard miss the Bills contest with a concussion. But let’s be honest here: The Giants need to begin evaluating whether Jones is their quarterback of the future or if they’re going to pull a Cardinals move if they tank and end up with, say, Tua Tagovailoa or Trevor Lawrence down the road.
What blows my mind about this process is how weirdly loyal the franchise has continued to be to Manning throughout his struggles, so much so that co-owner John Mara threw out that “I hope Eli has a great year and Daniel never sees the field” quote in the preseason. When it seemed like the Manning Era was over in 2017 when he was benched for Geno Smith, the backlash was so venomous that Manning was back under center the next week and hasn’t budged since.
Before he signed that team-crippling four-year, $84 million extension in 2015, Manning was seen as a borderline Hall of Famer in some circles. He won a couple of rings, made some incredible throws and ran the two-minute drill beautifully in his prime. Although some of his success could be attributed to fantastic offensive lines, balanced running attacks and punishing Big Blue defenses, he was still responsible for two of those Super Bowl wins.
Now? He’ll be remembered for all of that, and then how he lost the zing on his fastball, his struggles with mistakes and all the checking down that indicated he might be afraid of going downfield. If the Giants were hoping to extend his legacy by sticking with him, in a strange way they’ve tanked it in the process.
If the franchise wants to show its gratitude for Manning, the best thing it can do is stick him on the bench, give him a press conference in which they lavish praise on him and, I don’t know, schedule his Ring of Honor ceremony in Week 17.
Because they aren’t doing Manning and the team’s future by continuing to start him.
