New York Giants QB Eli Manning takes everything with a grain of salt. That’s always been his nature. After 13 seasons with the club, he realizes his career is drawing closer to the end and knows the team will begin making plans for life without him. The rumors are swirling that the Giants could select his heir very early in the upcoming NFL Draft.
“Whoever they need to draft that’s going to help out the team, whether it’s this year or going forward, I’m fine,’’ Manning said Thursday night at an event in Midtown as per the NY Post. “We drafted a quarterback four years ago, Ryan Nassib, I know that’s part of it, quarterbacks are going to get drafted. I got my job to do, I’m going to go out there and do it.”
That job is currently not in jeopardy. Manning is signed thru the 2019 season and the 36 year-old iron man and future Pro Football Hall of Famer plans on fulfilling that contract, just like he has his entire career.
“Ownership and management have their job, to draft the best players and looking forward to the future, I understand that’s part of it,” he said.
Currently, Manning has no serious competition on the roster. He is the clear starter and the Giants are hoping he continues his current consecutive game streak of 211 games (199 in the regular season and 12 in the postseason). The Giants signed Jets castoff Geno Smith to compete with journeyman Josh Johnson to be Eli’s primary backup. Neither player poses a serious threat to Manning, which has led many to believe that GM Jerry Reese is thinking of bringing in a player who could someday take out the two-time Super Bowl MVP.
The draft has several interesting candidates for the Giants to choose from but whether or not they will be able grab any of the top quarterbacks with the 23rd overall pick is up in the air. North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky is unlikely to get out of the top ten and many do not see GM Jerry Reese burning a first round pick on Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer or Deshaun Watson of Clemson.
That doesn’t mean that Reese won’t roll the dice on one of the others. Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes II, son of the former MLB pitcher of the same name, and Miami’s Brad Kaaya might be on their radar. Mahomes would have to be taken in the first round while Kaaya could be had in the second or third round. Another name to keep an eye on is Cal’s Davis Webb, who is slated to be selected in the middle rounds.
But for now, Eli is still the man. He will accept whatever the Giants chose to do. At the moment, they are choosing to put all of their chips on him for the next three years.