Eli Manning Unsure About Return

Eli Manning is now a 37-year old quarterback underplaying his $23.2 million cap hit.  He doesn’t add much to the New York Giants. In fact, he may take away. But in a draft class noted for lacking quarterback depth how do the Giants move on? The Giants quarterback himself is unsure of where the road ends. At the end of last year, Manning was unsure if he’d started his last game. “Last year I didn’t know,” Manning said Wednesday. “Hey, when you get to Year 15 these things come up.”

He also couldn’t decide if he’d return for a 16th season. “I don’t know,” he said. “Have not got into that or thought much about that. Just worried about doing my job and finishing the season. I didn’t know last year either. We’ll figure it out.”

The news came on the same day that Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert announced that he would return for his senior year. With the Giants sitting at 5-10, changes must come. The NFC East hasn’t had a repeat champion since the early 2000s but that’s no excuse for mediocrity. But even outside sources can’t decide what the team should do.

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter stood by Manning in a segment on Thursday. “Even if they were to go get Dwayne Haskins in the draft, wouldn’t you want Eli there to bridge the gap? I know that we’ve seen these rookie quarterbacks step in and be able to play right away, but Eli would be a nice fallback option to have.

And if you want a free agent, who’s out there? Nick Foles? Blake Bortles? Joe Flacco? Is one of those an obvious upgrade over Eli Manning and all that he’s meant to the Giants organization? Just tell me who the guy is that they’re going to replace Eli with?”

Hall of Famers Steve Young, Troy Aikman, and Curtis Martin all weighed in on the situation.

“No one ever leaves happy,” Young, an ESPN analyst and three-time Super Bowl champion, said. “There’s always this feeling that you gave your whole life, your body, your soul, your spirit and then they say goodbye.

Aikman said that “the end happens rather quickly.” He agreed with Young.  Martin felt the same way but added that Manning should be proud. “Yeah, the last couple of years haven’t been so great, but he’s accomplished a lot as an NFL quarterback.”