The New York Giants currently sit at 1-5 and last place in the NFC East. He certainly isn’t the main reason for the Giants struggles, but the Giants have to figure out what do with Eli Manning.
Head coach Pat Shurmur reiterated after the Giants’ 33-31 loss against the Eagles that Manning will continue to be the starter. At 1-5 the chances of making the playoffs are a long shot, which means the Giants need to give a fair assessment of their future and do what is best for the organization.
Manning has one year left on his $84 million deal and will be 38 in January. Letting Manning play out the rest of his contract will only delay the inevitable. He had a fantastic career and will most likely be a Hall of Famer but the Giants should move on from Eli sooner rather than later.
The mistake the Giants made was believing they were a Super Bowl contender despite their lack of roster depth and talent. As great as Saquon Barkley has been, he wasn’t the missing piece that would bring the Giants back to the Super Bowl, as running backs hardly are. They had the opportunity to draft a quarterback who could learn from Eli. That decision may have set the organization back years because even if they take a quarterback in the next draft, it will take some time for him to excel as it often does for rookie quarterbacks.
While Eli has been the face of the organization for over a decade, father time eventually comes knocking (exception: Tom Brady). The Giants should take notes and not make the same mistakes that their cross-town rivals made just a couple of seasons ago.
In 2016, the New York Jets were having an abysmal year after coming off a solid 10-6 year without a playoff appearance. In the 2016 draft, they selected former Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg in the 2nd round. Once the season went into the toilet, the Jets should have seen what they had in the rookie. This way they could’ve had a better idea if they should draft a quarterback in the following draft. They left Hackenberg on the bench for the whole season and continued to play the struggling Ryan Fitzpatrick and Bryce Petty. That decision may have lead to the decision to pass on quarterbacks Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. Watson is coming off of a serious knee injury and hasn’t played as good as some might’ve hoped this year, but he still looks like a future superstar in the league. As for Patrick Mahomes, it is a small sample size but he sure looks like the real deal. He has taken the league by storm in his 2nd year, making the Chiefs a Super Bowl contender.
The Jets took an extra year to realize Hackenberg wasn’t their guy and the rebuilding process will be delayed that much longer for it.
“What does this have to do with the Giants?” you might ask.
In the 2018 draft, the Giants selected former Richmond quarterback Kyle Lauletta in the 4th round. Lauletta comes from a small school but he has shown signs that he can succeed in the NFL. He was the MVP of the Senior Bowl and displayed what Manning lacks, mobility. The Giants have a bye week coming up after they play the Falcons and Redskins. Now would be a good time to start increasing the number of reps he gets in practice and then make the transition at the bye week. See what he has and if there are any signs that he can be the franchise quarterback then draft a player at another position of need like offensive line or edge rusher. And if he looks like a disaster then draft a quarterback with what presumably will be a high pick.
Not everyone gets to ride off into the sunset to end their playing career. Eli has nothing left to prove and he has given the Giants so much already. It’s time for the Giants to thank him for his service and move on.
