https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/29/new-york-giants-bench-eli-manning-quarterback-mmqb-peter-king
New York Giants Bench Eli Manning: Why It Was The Right Thing To Do
By Peter King
PATRICK SMITH/GETTY IMAGES
I get the raw emotion about the Eli Manning benching with the Giants. Fans, former teammates, players around the league … mostly, they think Ben McAdoo is heartless, unnecessarily cruel and has no appreciation for the class of a great Giant. (All may be true.) They think this move is dumb. It’s not. It’s the right thing to do.
Regarding McAdoo’s handling of Manning’s benching, tell me: How exactly are you going to do the mechanics of replacing a quarterback who has started every game for your team since mid-2004, who is the best playoff quarterback in your history, who is one of the most clutch playoff quarterbacks of all time, who has won two Super Bowls for your franchise—each time against tremendous odds, and against the best team of the past 50 years?
There is no good way. Every way stinks. But just because the decision is hard and will cause pain and tears doesn’t mean it should not be made. You are wounding one of the classiest players in the history of the league. But you’re doing it for the right reason. As Bo Schembechler once said, and as the Brothers Harbaugh have repeated time and again, when asked about motivation for this move or that move, the reason is: “The team. The team. The team.”
The Giants are 2-9, playing for nothing. And the most important thing for this franchise is to fact-find for 2018—particularly March and April 2018, when you have to decide if you want to use your top-five draft choice on a quarterback of the future, or if you want to ride a 37-year-old quarterback into his sunset.
Maybe you want to do both. But think of
the franchise here. Don’t think of
the person. When the person is gone, the franchise has to keep playing the games, and the best thing for you to do is figure out everything you can about the people to replace that person. The way to do that is to find out what’s behind Manning.
My first thought upon hearing the decision was,
Good idea. But do not tell me Geno Smith is starting. We’ve seen enough of Geno Smith. I want to see Davis Webb, the rookie gym rat from Cal, in all five of the games they’ve got left.
But then I thought, I don’t hate Smith starting for one week Sunday in the Black Hole in Oakland. Webb has been practicing solely as the scout team quarterback this year, mimicking what the opposing quarterback will do against the Giants defense.
Presumably, either this week or next, Webb will start practicing with the Giants’ first and second offense. But one week for Smith. One week, while Webb gets his feet wet and makes final preparations to play the last four weeks so the Giants can see what they have in the young kid, starting Dec. 10 against a beat-up Dallas team.
As for what this means for the future, don’t assume anything. Four points to make:
1. We don’t know who the coach or GM is going to be next year, so we can’t know if this is the end for Manning with the Giants. Maybe COO John Mara knows what he’s going to do atop the team; my gut is that both McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese will be fired.
But whether it’s Reese or some new GM, we’re not going to know Manning’s fate for a while. It’s easy to say,
Eli will never suit up for the Giants after this season, but that’s an opinion. I can’t see the Giants having made the decision that Manning is definitely gone in the midst of this train-wreck season. There’s no logic to it.
2. Manning has become a Jersey guy, and he’s not a particularly emotional sort, so I doubt he thinks right now it’s definitely over for him in New Jersey. He used to split the year between Jersey and his southern home. Now he’s mostly a suburban Jersey guy, his kids in a great school, his life in total order. He’s invested in the area. I’ve always thought he’d never want to leave. This obviously could change things. But we’re all guessing about the future.
3. Manning’s smart enough to survey his options in 2018 before doing anything rash. The Broncos will want him, to be sure. John Elway could recreate history; six years after bringing Peyton Manning to Denver to reignite his career, he could do the same with his brother. Jacksonville too, with Tom Coughlin importing the prize passer he won two Super Bowls.
But what if McAdoo gets fired and a coach who intrigues Manning—and who loves him—gets hired? What would Josh McDaniels or David Shaw think of Manning, and what would he think of them? Plus: Keeping Manning could allow the Giants to trade the second or third overall pick in 2018 (or whatever it turns out to be) for a treasure trove of draft choices if either the GM doesn’t love the college quarterback crop, or he feels Manning has three or four good years left.
4. His contract is a little tricky to trade. First: Manning has two years left, with $22 million in salary, $10 million in roster bonuses, and $1 million total in workout bonuses. Two years, $33 million. Reasonable. But Manning also has a no-trade clause in the deal. That means he could refuse a trade if he wants, or he could block a trade to teams he wouldn’t want to play. It also means if he chooses to waive the no-trade clause, the team that acquires him might have to sweeten the deal by adding either money or time to it.
It seems fair, for instance, if Manning could get a year or two added to the deal if it puts him a little north of $20 million annually. My guess is four years, $80 million might be the floor for Denver or Jacksonville or some surprise team (Manning’s hometown of New Orleans, if Drew Brees walks, for instance).
I can’t see Manning staying if he either doesn’t like the 2018 brain trust or, even after two months to let the anger dissipate, is still wounded by this. But as I say, Manning is more thoughtful than vengeful. He probably makes the best family and football decision, wherever that leads.
The more I see the Giants, the more I think Mara should fire McAdoo and Reese and start over with a new front office and coaching staff. The team is stale. Aside from the defensive free-agency home runs hit in 2016 and picking Odell Beckham Jr. in 2014, Reese has had some cold streaks in personnel, and he hasn’t gotten the line right in front of Manning.
If Mara lets Reese pick another coach in 2018, what happens if the Giants go 5-11 in ’18 and want to cut ties with Reese? Then the new GM would be stuck with a coach he never picked. A clean break seems smartest. Then Manning can judge his best place for 2018, and the new guys can judge if they want Manning.
about Jenkins anymore.
