Eli Manning is the biggest question mark this season for the New York Giants. Going into the draft, fans are wondering less about who the Giants will pick and more about whether or not that pick will be a quarterback, and the eventual successor of Eli Manning. Following a poor showing from backup quarterback Kyle Lauletta, it looks like Manning will be the top quarterback on the Giants roster at the start of the season.
However, that assumes that Manning will be on the team at that point. While it’s likely, it’s not certain, as it would eat up a large amount of cap space if Manning doesn’t agree to a renegotiated contract. Both a trade and a change in contract have been speculated about, but do those talks have any truth behind them? Well, one source especially close to Eli Manning would be his agent, Tom Condon, and Condon has said recently that Manning has desires to come back to the Giants for another year.
“I think he’d love to come back. Guys love to play their whole careers with one team, if they have a good experience with that team,” said Condon. While Condon believes that Manning wants to come back, however, he isn’t sure whether or not the Giants will try to renegotiate Manning’s contract.
“I have no idea,” Condon answered when asked about the subject. It is still early in the offseason, as the Super Bowl hasn’t even happened yet, so that makes sense. The draft is another event that will have an effect on player contracts, and that doesn’t happen until April. For now, Giants fans will just have to speculate on the quarterback situation and on whether or not Manning will return.
If Manning does return, which looks like the most likely outcome, he’ll probably have a mentoring role to a younger quarterback. Who that quarterback is remains to be seen, as multiple names are in the running, most notably possible draft picks Dwayne Haskins Jr. and Kyler Murray. It makes the situation all the more complicated, but chances are we won’t have an accurate idea of what to expect until the draft comes around in April and shows everyone what the Giants will have to work with for the 2019 season.