New Giants GM reveals details of his private meeting with Eli Manning

By Ross Kelly January 19, 2018 at 3:50pm

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The process for determining Eli Manning’s future with the only team he’s ever known (apart from the hour or so he was a Charger) has begun.

Manning recently met with the Giants’ new general manager, Dave Gettleman, who rejoined the organization after four years in Carolina. Gettleman previously spent 15 years with the Giants and was the team’s pro personnel director when New York traded for Manning at the 2004 draft.

According to Newsday, the two met last Friday for about 45 minutes at Giants headquarters.

Gettleman holds Manning in high esteem as he’s one of three current Giants who was on the team when he was last a part of the organization.

He said the meeting was productive.

“Yes, it was a great meeting. … We had a great conversation and everything went well,” Gettleman told the New York Post on Thursday.

Manning has two years remaining on his contract and a base salary of $22 million. He also has a $5 million roster bonus for each season that he is guaranteed if he’s still on the roster on the third day of the league year. That date for the 2018 season is March 16.

Gettleman said he was impressed with what he saw from Manning in a Week 14 loss to the Eagles. Manning’s 434 yards was the fourth-highest total of his career, and he also threw three touchdown passes.

Do you think Eli Manning will be the Giants' starting quarterback in 2018?

“If what I saw was not a mirage, and I don’t believe it was, then we’ll just keep moving,” he said.

That was about as much of an endorsement as Gettleman gave to Manning for the 2018 season. He then said he needs to look at every snap from the 2017 season and not just one game.

Team owner John Mara said Manning’s future will be a three-person conversation (Eli won’t be one of those three people).

“I think he can still play at a high level, but at the end of the day that’s going to be a discussion between Dave, the new head coach and myself,’’ Mara said.

The Giants hold the No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft, and it will be shocking if they don’t select a quarterback. UCLA’s Josh Rosen seems to be the favorite at this point, but USC’s Sam Darnold and Wyoming’s Josh Allen are also in the discussion.

Besides the debate over which quarterback the Giants should select, they’re facing the question of whether they should keep Manning on the roster for another year to act as a bridge to the drafted QB or hand the reins to the draftee immediately and jettison Manning.

In 2004, New York used Kurt Warner as a bridge to Manning. Warner started the team’s first nine games of that season before Manning began his streak of 210 consecutive game started, which came to an end this season.

Manning’s future is further complicated by the fact that he has a no-trade clause in his contract. He can veto any trade, which gives him all of the leverage if and when the Giants have discussions with other teams. Manning’s No. 1 goal is to be a starter in 2018, and while he would prefer to start for the Giants, he reportedly would be open to going to another team.

“Manning still wants to play and believes there are several potential landing spots for next year where he could jump in and be the starter,” said NFL insider Dan Graziano.

The Giants have eight weeks to make a decision on Manning’s future. We’ll know by his roster bonus deadline of March 16 if the team will begin a new era or if it will “just keep moving,” to quote Gettleman.

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