Could a reunion between Eli Manning and the New York Giants be in the works?
Don’t rule it out, said Giants co-owner John Mara on WFAN on Friday morning. Mara has been in touch with Manning, who he says is mulling his options at the moment. Manning’s contract expires at the end of the NFL year in March and he has yet to decide whether he wants to continue playing or delve into another type of job within the game.
Mara told WFAN’s Marc Malusis and Maggie Gray that the Giants are not averse to having Manning back in the fold.
“I haven’t closed any doors on that,” Mara said. “Eli came to see me a few days ago, and we had a nice, long talk, but I don’t think he’s fully decided yet what he wants to do. And I’ve told him just take his time, think about it some more and then come back and see me again.
“Obviously, he’s been the best representative of this franchise, maybe that we’ve ever had — I mean, both what he’s done on the field, the way he conducts himself off the field, the professionalism that he shows. You can’t ask for a better representative than Eli Manning. So he’s going to take his time, and we’ll hopefully have another discussion at some point in the future.”
It’s hard to imagine Eli agreeing to return as Daniel Jones’ backup. He surely doesn’t need the money. Plus, there is the issue of the new head coach, Joe Judge, and general manager Dave Gettleman agreeing to have Manning forced on them by ownership.
Manning, 39, could seek a front office position with the Giants, although handing anything outside of something honorary seems unlikely. He’s not John Elway. Plus, he recently said he is not interested in coaching.
Odds are if Eli can’t find an opportunity to start for an NFL team this fall, he’ll have no choice other than to retire.